The Witch of the Emerald City
by Kirra White Tigress
Summary: Two years have passed since the Witch's death, and Glinda is left to rule Oz. But when one green Witch falls, another must rise.... Gelphie included.
1. Prologue

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any of the characters mentioned in this story.

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Prologue:

It was two years after the Wicked Witch of the West's death when the panic once again set in. The ruler of Oz had vanished, laws were being broken, the Animals that survived the cruel Banns that had been established all those years ago were finally coming out of hiding. Chaos erupted everywhere, and they had no one to turn to for help. The world made a full turn into the days of darkness that the people of Oz believed the Witch had taken with her to her grave.

The months transformed slowly into another year until one Ozian came up with a bright idea: Why not ask Glinda the Good to help us? She's smart, she's pretty, she's practically the former Wizard's right-hand person… and she's the only person they had left that was untainted by the bitterness of the world. And so a group of people marched up to her home in Gillikin and pleaded with her to take the position, praying to the Unnamed God or Lurline or the Kumbric Witch or just _logic_ that she would accept. They knew she would: She couldn't resist.

She refused.

It left all of Oz in bewilderment and confusion, but Glinda stood at her word. Why should she go back, anyway? She had too many things on her mind already. The premature death of her husband, the illness that her only daughter had come down with that could prove to be fatal…. The death of her best friend, whom had done nothing to deserve it. It was all enough to make her want to die. Glinda was left on this damned earth to suffer and hate, and yet she still managed to act like nothing was wrong.

But _everything was wrong_. She didn't have life. She didn't have love. All of that disappeared when _she_ died! Glinda fell asleep in tears knowing that her best friend, the only one she could ever come to love, was gone forever, knowing that there was nothing she could do to bring her back. Even if she could bring her back, she would only be killed again, if not by the people of Oz then definitely by Glinda's own two hands for leaving her in this cruel world to face the darkness by herself.

_You could have helped her_, a voice in her mind told her. _You could have changed how history progressed; you could have made it so that she wasn't made to be evil in these people's eyes._

She still could. Glinda could still change history; she could make sure this didn't happen again. And so she agreed the next time they asked her to take charge of the people of Oz. Glinda the Good was immediately moved to the Emerald City, to the palace where the former Wizard of Oz resided, and she was equipped with enough maids and butlers to attend to four people's needs. Everyone throughout Oz rejoiced, for they now had a new ruler. Everyone celebrated but Glinda the Good, who burst into tears the moment she was left alone.


	2. Chapter 1 Enter: The Witch

Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any of the characters mentioned in this story.

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The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter One:

_Concentrate. That's all I need to do to make this work, _she thought. She held the object firmly in her hand, keeping one eye closed as she centered in on her target. The girl muttered incoherent words under her breath as she tried to remain focused, occasionally stopping to blow a piece of dark hair out of her face. She wound her arm back in a wide circle while still clutching the item tightly in her hand, then snapped it forward.

It was all over in a matter of seconds.

She ducked below the window sill just in time to hear the inevitable splat and scream of shock and terror. Her blue eyes looked over to see her latest accomplishment, if she had even succeeded. Laughter overtook her the moment she saw the green paint running down the blonde woman's face, and she didn't even bother to hide herself. It was all too priceless!

The girl heard the grumbles of anger, a curse or two following, but no trace of the need for revenge was detected. She smiled as she got another paint bomb ready. That would show the people of Oz who they were dealing with. Now _they _would be the ones criticized for having skin as green as sin. At least for a few days, that is—the paint she used was made to attach onto flesh and not come off unless they washed themselves properly.

She shuddered at the thought of water and went to gather the supplies for another batch of her weapons. Memories flooded her mind of how her life used to be, a life without this dreadful curse of her skin tone. She used to have a life before all this. She used to have a name and a real home, someone that loved her—or at least tried to— it seemed. Now she was nothing but a shadow on the wall of society. A _green _shadow, but a shadow nonetheless.

Her life at the mauntery was nothing but an image in her mind. She was born there, raised there, even named there. Two out of three of those things were by a woman named Sister Saint Aelphaba. Sister Aelphaba called her Liira, a name similar to a boy who also resided there but did not have as much significance. The strange maunt didn't seem to talk much, but when she did it was of things that used to be. She used to go to school when she was younger, she even had a friend that she talked about all the time—someone named Galinda, was it? This all went on until the green-skinned woman just disappeared from Liira's life forever.

After that, everything went downhill. Liira's skin began to change its color, and her original aversion to water increased. Eventually she left her home to try to find another. Luckily she found this old apartment, and besides the large bloodstain in the bedroom it was actually quite comfortable. Eight years had passed since her new beginning, making her about eighteen years old. She was now more comfortable with the way she was. Now her time was spent torturing the lives of the ones who had tortured her.

Liira went back to the window with twelve paint bombs in her arms. She set eleven to the side and wound her arm back to catch someone randomly. But then she stopped when she saw her. It was another one of those foolish assemblies set up by the leader of Oz, Glinda the Good. _Perfect target_, she thought as she took aim. Of course, she had never actually _seen _her, but that didn't really matter anyway, now did it? It didn't matter if she was royalty. The higher they are the better. _Revenge is mine…._

"Fellow Ozians…."

The green girl stopped in mid-throw, her body hanging halfway out the window, at the sound of the voice. She didn't have enough time to regain her balance as she suddenly fell out. Liira quickly repositioned her body so that her feet were pointed to the ground, and she caught a flagpole as she passed. She let out a breath of relief as her world stopped falling—or rather she did—and she gracefully dropped the rest of the way down. The paint bomb was nowhere to be seen.

Liira brushed herself off, trying to still her beating heart in the process. It was official: that was the _last_ time she was going to do something like that again. _I'm going to laugh if I end up doing this again next week,_ Liira thought. She then realized that she couldn't hear anyone speaking besides the whispering and murmuring of the crowd. Liira looked up to see what was going on, and she immediately regretted her action.

Standing in front of her, their backs to the whispering crowd, were two Gale Force guards who did not look happy. A blonde-haired woman stood in between them. _Oh shit…._

Glinda the Good was staring right at her, a look of complete and utter shock on her beautiful face.


	3. Chapter 2 Fight and Flight

Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any of the characters mentioned in this story.

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The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Two:

_Glinda the Good was staring right at her, a look of complete and utter shock on her beautiful face._

Liira stood almost in a trance as she stared back at Glinda. The way the blonde woman was looking at her was different than how others usually did. Her eyes held shock with sorrow and guilt and joy mixed all in one…. _What are you doing? _Liira heard a voice hiss. _Get the hell out of there before they catch you!_

The green girl dodged the Gale Force guards as they attempted to grab her, kicking one between the legs as she did. She heard the crowd go crazy as the entire thing unfolded—screams and sounds of carts being pushed over in an attempt to get out of the square filled the air. Liira avoided yet another guard as he ran onto the platform to capture her. "Halt, Witch!" she heard him yell, as well as the sound of several guns being prepared to shoot. She bolted down the steps of the platform and ran as fast as she could. Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough; Liira suddenly felt two arms wrap around her waist, pulling her back.

"Let me go!" the green girl screamed as she tried to kick at the guard. Two more ran toward the first to help him hold her down. Her body was soon pinned to the ground with her lying on her back, all three of the men holding her twisting form straight. Liira saw yet another guard come forward, a wooden bucket in his hands. Her blue eyes widened in fear, and she managed to kick all of them off of her. She scurried to her feet only to be dragged back down again.

Tears sprang to her eyes, burning like fire as they ran down her face. What did she do to deserve this treatment? Sure, she pulled a few pranks, but that was nothing to try to _kill_ her about! Liira braced herself for the rush of water, the scalding pain of the horrible liquid as it was poured over her body….

"Stop!"

Liira's eyes opened the moment she heard that voice again. The guards dragged her up off the ground and held her firmly to not let her cause any harm. _What harm could I possibly do?_ Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Glinda the Good walking toward her. She was probably going to finish the job herself…. Liira glowered at her when the blonde got within three feet of her. "Oh, so Miss Goodness is coming to show the lowly guards how it's done, huh?" she barked. "Please, the worse you can do is insult how I dress—" Liira was shut up when one of the guards came around and kicked her hard in the side. She would have collapsed if the guards hadn't been holding her up off the ground.

"I'd be silent if I were you," that one guard said in a harsh tone. "Just in case you didn't know, Witch, this is Her Royal Goodness, Glinda the Good. You should be grateful she didn't let us destroy you like we should have two years ago."

The blonde woman bit her bottom lip and looked away, her blue eyes flashing with sorrow. All of this went unnoticed, except by Liira. The green girl looked back at her in confusion. There was obviously something she wasn't letting on…. Her mind then let the guard's words click in her mind. "Two years ago?" she blurted out. Liira shook her head. "You must be mistaking me for someone else. I've done noth—" Another kick was launched into her side, and this time they dropped her.

Liira heard a gasp come from Glinda, and when she looked up she saw the blonde glaring at the guard. "Have you no _shame_? She hasn't done anything wrong!" she cried.

"But Your Goodness… she is the Witch! She has come back!"

"She did not come back! It's impossible for the dead to return," Glinda shot back, her voice cracking noticeably by Liira.

The green girl took this small argument to her advantage and scrambled to her feet, bolting off of the platform and into the now-secluded square. She dodged the several hands that were trying to capture her. She had to get out of here…. Liira tripped over someone's perfectly aimed leg and fell to the cobblestone ground. Quickly she got up, and she continued running. Shouts and hurried footsteps followed her.

Thoughts filled her mind, blocking out everything else as they did. The damned guards had called her a Witch. Did they mean the Wicked Witch of the West? Liira had only heard of her in the legends—she had never seen her, kind of how she had never laid eyes on Glinda the Good before now. The Wicked Witch of the West was murdered two years ago by some girl from the land of Kans-Ass… or something like that. It seemed possible that she could come back to life; there was no telling what magic could do.

She suddenly felt someone yank on her arm, pulling her into a dark alleyway. A soft yet firm hand covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. Liira watched from the shadows as the guards tan past, shouting orders left and right to capture the green Witch before she did anymore damage. Her heart beat faster in her fear and panic, and she struggled against her captor's hold only to have the person's grip on her tighten. "Stop or they'll hear you," a woman's voice hissed from behind her.

After the guards were gone—which took several clock-ticks—the hand was removed from the green girl's mouth. The woman still held onto her, however, keeping her in place. Liira growled at her captor. "What the hell do you think you're—?"

"I think it's safe now." The woman obviously hadn't heard her. Either that or she was ignoring the green girl altogether. She was peering past the brick building while still managing to remain hidden, then she swept back into the alley. "Never mind; she's still there." She rummaged around for something at her feet before thrusting something solid at Liira. "You can use that for your escape."

Liira examined the object through the darkness, running her hand over it to get a better image of it in her head. It felt like a long, narrow pole, weighing in at about five or six pounds. At the end were several thin pieces of straw. The girl frowned. "A broomstick?" she asked in confusion. "How is this going to get me out of here?"

"You're a Witch, aren't you?"

"No."

The woman let out a growl of frustration. She pressed the broomstick further against Liira, her now-visible brown eyes bearing into her own. "Just trust me on this one. Use it to fly away from here. It's the only way…." She backed away a bit and crossed her arms. Liira could sense her smirking. "That is, unless you want to be caught by the Gale Force. Either way, I don't really care."

The green girl sighed. "Alright, alright!" She mounted the broomstick, feeling foolish as she did. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"I've been told. Now go, before someone sees you."

Liira once again did as she was told. She felt the broom lift her with a single thought, watched as the ground began to disappear from under her. She could see the guards running down the road near Ozway, Glinda staying where she was on the platform in a kneeling position, her head bowed as if in defeat. And as she flew off toward the West, she thought she saw a familiar face with flesh as green as sin.


	4. Chapter 3 Return to Kiamo Ko

Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any of the characters mentioned in this story.

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The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Three:

_And as she flew off toward the West, she thought she saw a familiar face with flesh as green as sin._

Liira shook her head to clear her head of the thought. She was only hallucinating, she was sure of it. It couldn't be her; Sister Saint Aelphaba had stated once that she hated this horrible city and that she wanted nothing to do with it anymore. That was probably why she left. Liira had probably only caught a glimpse of the lights of the Emerald City reflecting off of a window pane and into that alleyway. It wasn't her…. _It couldn't be her._

The green girl allowed herself to be lost in her thoughts for once as she flew through the sky. For some reason her memories traveled to those of Sister Aelphaba on the last night she ever saw her. It was on Lurlinemas, the day that the Sister had always hated, and all of the others had gone down to bed already. Liira—who was once without this green curse—was left to tend to her, to make sure that she didn't try to drown herself in water—the liquid both seemed to absolutely loathe. And it wasn't an order that Liira stayed up; it was because she felt a sort of connection with her.

Aelphaba was sitting near the fireplace, reading like she always did at night. Liira had pulled up a small stool and just stared at her. It was a routine that they had set up unbeknownst to them ever since Liira could remember. The green woman just looked so enchanting, so angelic despite her demonic demeanor. She was just so fascinating with the way she could close herself off at will and not be bothered by what others said about her.

Liira decided to go against tradition tonight. She moved a little closer to Aelphaba to where her head was lying on the armrest. The scent of cinnamon filled her senses, making her smile. She was glad to be this close to the one she admired; Aelphaba made her feel so safe in a world of criticism and loneliness…. What she didn't expect were long fingers stroking her dark hair, slowly and gently.

She looked up at the Sister, who still had her eyes trained on the book, in confusion. Liira had never been touched by her—not even a mere brushing of the fingers as a gesture of comfort. It struck her as odd that the usually closed-off woman would do something like this. Then, by just the utterance of a word, her action started to make sense.

"Galinda…."

Liira smiled to herself, though she didn't know why. Maybe it was because she was happy that at one time Aelphaba was happy with someone and close enough to another human being to actually take part in this kind of interaction. Whatever it was, she allowed Sister Aelphaba to continue until it finally registered in her own mind what she was doing. The green woman flushed when she glanced over at Liira. "Sorry," she muttered before stopping. "You just remind me of her so much…."

And at that, no other words were passed between them. No words were needed—everything was already communicated through that gesture. Several hours later, Liira woke up in the cold room, sitting in the chair Aelphaba had used previously with a blanket draped over her. Another few hours had passed before she finally had to go ask where the Sister was. Her answer was not what she wanted: "She's as good as dead now."

Liira shuddered at the memory, then shivered again as the cold air finally took its toll on her. She lowered herself so that she was at a more comfortable altitude before taking in her surroundings. She realized that she was in the Vinkus, Kiamo Ko to be more could easily spot the abandoned army tents and the old fields where the crops were grown, the small homes and villages that were scattered everywhere, and the meandering trails that marked where the hunters chased after their meals on a daily basis… if there was anyone here anymore.

Up ahead was a nearly demolished castle, the mighty citadel where it was said the Wicked Witch of the West once resided. _A quick tour wouldn't hurt,_ she thought. Liira then shook her head. What was she thinking! This was the home of the _Wicked Witch!_ How could she possibly want to tour around a place like that?

_Relax. You're now the Witch of the Emerald City. You've got the broomstick and the flying skills to prove it._

Liira sighed as she lowered herself to the ground in front of the castle. "Witch of the Emerald City, huh?" she said to herself. She smiled at the nickname. It could work….

-( )-

The moment she stepped inside she wished she hadn't. It looked like the cyclone that struck Munchkinland all those years ago had reformed and hit the other side of the country. Tables and chairs were turned over everywhere curtains were torn to shreds, the doors were knocked off of their hinges…. Forget the cyclone—this was a full-fledged war zone. Liira took a cautious step forward to not accidentally catch herself on a piece of glass.

She went further into the castle, her eyes looking over every detail enough to memorize it. Liira made her way to the stairwell that led to what she supposed was one of the towers. She didn't bother lighting a torch—even though it was home to one of the evilest people in the world, she didn't want to risk burning it to the ground. _There may be books that don't exist anywhere else here._

Liira turned into the first and only room that was at the top of the tower. It was also the only one with the door intact. She stuck the handle of the broom into the doorway and used it as a crowbar, prying the door open. Instead of it opening, however, the door fell to the ground with a thud. Close enough.

The green girl placed her broom near the doorway and walked into the room. She was glad to see at least a little bit of organization; the room didn't seem to be torn apart at all if you ignored the several books and papers littering the floor. There was an unmade bed in the right-hand corner of the room with a desk right beside it. A bookshelf loaded with tomes stood on the left wall. On the desk was a type of notebook, a pen resting beside it.

She went toward the desk, curious as to what the Witch could have possibly written. Liira looked at the long, slanted words and saw that there were no spells, no equations for formulas for the latest potion… in fact there was nothing about magic at all. It was a simple notebook, simple words (though the vocabulary was quite extensive)…. _A diary,_ Liira thought with a small gasp. What would the Wicked Witch be doing with a diary of all things?

Liira sat down at the desk and began to read. She figured it was safe enough—the castle was completely and permanently abandoned. The green girl read the first few lines, completely enraptured with the things that just flowed from pen to paper. The same name appeared several times. The name Glinda was circled, underlined, crossed out, and even surrounded by stars. Unfortunately, this was all brought to an end when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder and spin her around, forcing her to look into burning brown eyes.


	5. Chapter 4 Rage and Unanswered Questions

Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any of the characters mentioned in this story.

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The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Four:

_Unfortunately, this was all brought to an end when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder and spin her around, forcing her to look into burning brown eyes._

The features of her attacker's face were hidden in the darkness of the room, making it hard to discern exactly who it was. Liira's eyes filled with panic as the two eyes of this person glowered at her. She swallowed, letting out a bit of a whimper against her will. Could her life get any worse?

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" a low yet unmistakably feminine voice growled at her. "If this is a kind of prank to destroy this castle—"

"I didn't mean to come here! Not really, anyway," Liira blurted, her fear controlling her tongue. "And I don't think I could ever bring myself to eradicate such a place as this." She hoped this truthful statement would help her get out of this situation.

The grip on her arm loosened, but only a little. The green girl took this to her advantage and yanked her arm back, casting a cold look in the woman's direction. She stepped back a little and just stared at this new person. _Damn darkness,_ Liira thought as she squinted to see who it was, what this woman looked like. She could only see the dark flowing dress that went down to her feet, which were probably covered by large boots. She could spot the endings of a thin scarf that was wound around her neck, the small draft lifting it just a bit, and the minimum amount of light that passed through the curtains revealed that her facial expression was an unwelcoming scowl.

"What are you doing here?" the woman repeated, her tone just a hair lighter. It made a big difference, however—some of Liira's fear lifted.

Liira stepped away from the desk and let out a breath. She had no reason on coming here; the damned broom just led her to the residence of the Wicked Witch of the West. But she wouldn't dare tell her that she came by broom or that she had no real cause. "I want to know more about the Wicked Witch of the West," she said before she could stop herself.

The woman snorted. "Why would you want to bother yourself with a horrid creature such as that Witch? She's gone from this world—it's best if she stayed that way," she shot, her voice wavering a little.

"I just wanted to know a little more about her, I guess. We're so much alike…." She didn't know until after she had spoken that she was speaking like an idiot. How could she possibly find relation with that horrible creature? She wasn't wicked like that Witch was!

"How so?"

The green girl was caught off-guard, not by the question but by the tone of voice it was asked in. Venom with sadness, it seemed to her. How it balanced out, she wasn't sure, but it did. Liira cleared her throat to bring her out of her state of thought and back into reality, where the woman was staring at her more patiently. She found herself blushing as well. "Well… we're both pretty much outcasts to society. And we both don't have a place to really call home. Lost, lonely… no one doesn't seem to understand that we have thoughts and feelings too. And we're both… we're both…."

"Green."

Liira looked at her in surprise. The woman was avoiding eye contact, her brow visibly furrowed as she dealt with personal demons. Or was it something else, like she was struggling with a choice of hurling the green girl out of the castle window. She gulped. _Please don't let it be that…._ Brown eyes caught her blue ones as anger resurfaced. She stared into those eyes, completely captivated by the burning irises, until finally she heard her speak again.

"It's best if you left before I change my mind about you completely. If you seriously want to talk about that horrid creature, I suggest you go find someone who cares. Maybe then you'd get the information you need."

She was off in a flurry of black skirts and green, disappearing out of the room without so much as touching the woman. Liira mounted the broom, her heart hammering in her chest, when she made it halfway down the stairs and kicked off from there. Gravity was not a factor anymore as she rose once more into the air. The broom and its rider tore out of the castle at great speed, and she didn't look back.

-( )-

"_If you seriously want to talk about that horrid creature, I suggest you go find someone who cares."_

That one part of the short conversation lingered in Liira's mind more than the others did as she tore through the sky at a break-neck pace. She was glad that she trusted the broom enough to keep her steady. She didn't have any other option now—if she stopped now, it would be a good three hundred feet before she reached land. And that wouldn't be a very pretty situation….

Liira sighed as her mind returned to that woman in Kiamo Ko. She seemed pretty damn defensive over the residence of the deceased Witch of the West. And that diary…. She frowned. Why was Glinda mentioned so many times in that one entry? _The one dated back two years ago…._ There was obviously more to the Witch than anyone had originally believed. _And I'm going to figure it out,_ Liira thought with a small smile. But where could she go to get the information she needed about her?

_Glinda the Good herself._

She shook her head furiously. What would _Glinda the Good_ possibly know about the enemy of Oz?

_Everything._

Liira growled at herself and beat her head with a clenched fist. "Alright, I'll go to her! But she's not going to listen to me," she told herself.

_You don't know that._

She frowned even more, her eyes narrowing in her frustration. She hated these arguments she had with herself…. Liira let out a breath and continued back to the Emerald City, back to where this all began.


	6. Chapter 5 The Meeting

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Five:

_Liira let out a breath and continued back to the Emerald City, back to where this all began._

By nightfall she made it back to the Emerald City, but getting through it wasn't easy. Gale Force guards packed the streets, filled the alleyways, and guarded stores and houses that proved essential to the thriving city. All but one was protected against the new Witch of the Emerald City, and that one was the one Liira needed to get to.

She couldn't believe it. Her luck had finally changed for the better! Liira nearly let out a laugh of triumph, but she didn't as she took to full effect where she was. _Now is not the time to fool around; you've got work to do,_ a voice in her mind said. She didn't argue; she was in dangerous territory now. The green girl thought about that and shook her head. Her enemy was now Glinda the Good. Unbelievable.

Liira flew up to the master bedroom and peered through the window. What she saw almost made her fall off the broom. The curtains that were supposed to be covering the window were now all over the floor, torn to shreds. The nightstand was knocked over with its leg broken, its contents on the floor and shattered. The large four-poster bed with the emerald and white sheets was damaged—the sheets were torn and dispersed to all four corners of the room. The now-bare mattress looked like it had been punctured by a knife several gruesome times, the feather pillows in worse state than the mattress.

And in the middle of it all was a small blonde woman dressed in a pink satin nightgown, bottle of wine in hand, with her legs pulled close to her chest and her head resting on her knees, her body shaking with uncontrollable tears.

Liira immediately felt sorry for the blonde. Today had marked the second anniversary of the Witch's death—the press must have finally gotten to her with their constant questions. She moved a bit closer to the window, pressed her ear against the cool glass pane to catch any sounds or words that would give her a clue as to what was really wrong. If it was something that Glinda needed some time alone about, she wouldn't bother her. She knew what it was like to be in the pit of despair and sadness, only with her it had been tearless silences as opposed to crying. The humane, normal side of her wanted to somehow break in and try to make her feel better. But what would be more terrifying then a green person bursting into your home?

She returned her focus to the blonde woman on the other side of the glass. All she could hear were muffled sobs and gasps for air as she drowned in her sorrow. Liira frowned. She could always come back tomorrow; that way Glinda wouldn't have to hurt herself even more. The green girl suddenly felt the broom tilt forward a little. With a yelp she felt her body press onto the window, causing it to swing open. She tumbled some before she finally landed… right in front of Glinda the Good. Panic filled her then, and she quickly got up, careful not to make eye contact. Liira grabbed her broom, prepared to dash out of the open window.

"Wait."

The green girl stopped, cursing herself as she did so. How could this woman have such a power over her, stopping her with just the sound of her voice? Liira turned around slowly and was met with blood-shot blue eyes that still managed to shine brightly. She took in a breath. "I'm sorry…. I didn't mean to intrude, Miss Glinda—" She gasped as the blonde leapt up and wrapped her arms tightly around her. Glinda buried her face into Liira's chest, sobbing.

"I knew they were lying, I knew it! You _aren't_ dead…."

Liira's eyes widened even more. Glinda the Good was _concerned_ about her? The green girl of the Emerald City? She pushed the blonde away gently, looking once more into the sapphire-blue irises. No, it wasn't her she was worried about. "You've mistaken me for someone else," Liira said as softly as she could. She saw Glinda's eyes begin to tear up and she winced. Not just because of the sight of the tears, but the pain that was etched inside those eyes, the pain that marred that beautiful porcelain face.

Glinda sniffled, wiping her tears away. "Of course I am. I'm hallucinating again—you couldn't possibly be her…." She broke away from the green girl and went to rearrange some of the things that were out of place. It was all futile, but it seemed to be the only thing she could do. "What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked, her voice still broken with tears.

"My name is Liira," she began as an informal introduction. Glinda had probably been through enough of those today. "I wanted to talk to you about something… but you're obviously not in the right condition to speak. Should I come back at another time?" Liira suddenly felt a twinge of shock as the blonde woman looked at her again with a softened gaze. _How can she not be afraid of me?_

"I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for Lake Chorge in Gillikin—just for a vacation. I won't be back for a fortnight," Glinda replied. She paused again before turning back to her disaster-area of a room. She shifted a piece of curtain over and picked up the wand it revealed. Instead of using it, however, she only cast a single look at it before tossing it back on the floor. "Or I could leave now and have the maids get this cleaned up when I'm gone. They are just going to _love_ this…."

Liira smiled at the ruler of Oz as she muttered to herself. _Who could possibly hate this woman? _she wondered to herself, thinking back on the Witch's diary. She had such a positive charm about her that only pure evil could loathe. _And nobody can ever be _that_ evil even if they tried._

"Liira?"

The green girl broke out of her thoughts the moment she heard her name being called. She looked back at the Good Witch of the North with her full attention. She couldn't help it. "Yes ma'am," she added for good measure.

Glinda blushed at the honorific, biting her lip. "Thank you," she said, "for coming. I needed the distraction… and the company. You don't know how much you've helped."

Liira stood on the windowsill, using the broom as a balance. "May I ask who it was you were crying about?" she asked. She was met with a sad look almost instantly, and she decided that now was the time to back off. "I'm prying," she said more to herself than Glinda. "I shouldn't have—"

"No. No, you're not. It's a reasonable question, not at all like what I usually deal with." The Good Witch tried to laugh to ease the tension, but it came out strained. She frowned again and went back to biting her lip. "It was… someone I should have forgotten about a long time ago." She smiled a little, this time more willingly. "You remind me of her so much…. It's almost like my Elphie is still here with me."

The green girl smiled at her, then mounted her broom. She kicked off of the windowsill and sped off into the night. "I hope everything goes well for you, Miss Glinda," she whispered when she was far enough away. And she meant every word.


	7. Chapter 6 Beating Down the Door

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Six:

_"I hope everything goes well for you, Miss Glinda," she whispered when she was far enough away. And she meant every word._

A blasted week had passed since the encounter with Glinda the Good. Liira's questioning was put on hold, and it was enough to make her go insane. _What's the relationship between Glinda and the Witch of the West?_ To make matters worse, she couldn't go back to that castle in Kiamo Ko; when she did she always saw that same crazed woman in the shadows pacing and muttering to herself if she wasn't busy reading.

During that week Liira was forced to lodge in a run-down inn at the border of the Emerald City and Shiz. "Run-down" meaning "not operated anymore", so she was able to easily get through without having anyone call in the Gale Force. The green girl battled with what she should do with her time since all of her sources of information were out of her reach. It was then when she made her decision.

The first morning of the second week she left the abandoned inn. She made sure it was dark enough for her to go undetected by the citizens of Oz, and in daylight she stayed close to the clouds to avoid being seen. It amazed her how much her life had changed in just one hour a week ago.

_All because of her…._

Liira shook her head. Glinda hadn't done anything wrong, let alone anything at all. It was her own cursed existence that brought her into this mess. Everyone feared her, saw her as a Witch—_the _Witch. Everyone but Her Goodness, of course. That was what was troubling her now. How could she not be afraid of her? Was it possible that purity could see through what others could not?

She let out a breath and focused on the landscape beneath her. It was nothing but wide open fields of green littered with red rose bushes in some areas. A lake with crystal-blue waters lay out before her, making her a bit uneasy. Liira never understood why she hated the liquid. Maybe it was something she had picked up from Sister Aelphaba…. _Don't think of her,_ she thought as she bit back tears.

There was a three-story mansion-like building near the lake, sitting on a small hill overlooking the water. There was a small gazebo near the building, where a table and chairs stood. No one was outside, which was a good sign for her. "Let's see now," Liira muttered to herself as she balanced herself evenly on the broomstick. "To the east is the Maddeleines… to the north, Shiz. This must be Lake Chorge." She smiled to herself in triumph for recognizing the geographic features of Oz, as childish as it was, but she frowned when she realized one question still remained. _How am I going to avoid getting caught by the Gale Force?_

_Risk it like you normally do._

Liira braced herself and swooped down to make a landing. She stopped just before the front door—her heart almost stopped, then it restarted at a sickening pace. Here she was, now the new enemy of Oz, about to intrude on Glinda the Good's vacation. _How wonderful that would be,_ a sarcastic voice sounded in her mind. She shook it off, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door with the broom's handle.

Almost a clock-tick later, the door opened to reveal a brunette with bright green eyes. They nearly popped out of her head at the sight of Liira. The green girl kept her calm, though on the inside she was frustrated with all the staring. "Excuse me. Is Miss Glinda here?" she asked. She soon found herself standing before a closed door yet again. Her anger began to grow. She did _not_ come all the way out here just to have a door slammed in her face, green-skinned Witch or no! Liira pounded on the door with her broom again, this time with more force.

"I've come to talk to the Good Witch of the North. I demand you open the damn door before I burn down this building with everyone in it!" Liira yelled. Yes, it was harsh, but how else could she be heard? She continued banging on the door for a good ten more minutes before giving up. The green girl sighed in exasperation and turned to go—_it was only a threat, don't act on it, _her mind repeated—when the door suddenly opened, albeit slowly. Liira turned around to face this next person, ready to curse them to hell and back for even daring to slam the door in her face, but she stopped the moment she saw her.


	8. Chapter 7 The Truth Will Set Her Free

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Seven:

_Liira turned around to face this next person, ready to curse them to hell and back for even daring to slam the door in her face, but she stopped the moment she saw her._

"Elphie?" the blonde before her questioned. She then shook her head after a moment, let out a breath, and looked back at the green girl with a weary smile on her beautiful face. "Liira. It's so good to see you again."

Liira smiled back at her, her face turning a hint of a darker green. It made her feel special when she was treated like a normal person by the Good Witch, as she always never was in regular society. "Not as good as it is to see you again, Miss Glinda." She saw the blonde's face turn a little more pink, her eyes shining brighter, her smile widening and losing all traces of fatigue. "How have things been going so far?"

Glinda laughed. "It's funny how you should ask—it's not as grand as you would like to think! There's nothing to really do around here, and besides, the ridiculously limitless amount of paperwork follows me wherever I go. If vacation's a nightmare, I'd hate to see what my retirement will look like!" she exclaimed.

The green witch had to laugh; it was contagious. This was definitely a major change from the distraught and stressed woman Liira had seen only twice before. It was nice to see her in what seemed to be her normal element. She sobered gradually, yet still was smiling as she looked down at the beaming blonde beauty—Liira was a good three inches taller than her. How could someone like this possibly be so stressed and worried most of the time?

_Work, business in general. Plus she's had to face so many things lately—_

"So what are you doing here?"

Liira was broken from the thoughts that had invaded her mind so suddenly almost instantly. She blushed a bit more as she noticed that she possibly had been standing there like a complete idiot for a set amount of time. "I wanted to talk to you about something," she stated simply yet quietly.

Glinda laughed again. "Something that required having you beat the door down?" she asked.

_Good job, Liira!_

"Hey, don't worry about it! I could always fix things with the wave of a wand. You just need to make sure that you're not anywhere around—if someone is too close I become easily flustered, and therefore I make things worse than they already are. Look at this nation, for example…."

The green girl's eyes widened as she looked at Glinda incredulously. "What are you talking about? You're the best thing that's ever happened to Oz!" she found herself exclaiming. The blush then deepened even more and she had to look away to hide her embarrassment when the ruler of Oz raised an eyebrow at her in surprise.

Glinda sighed before walking back into the large summerhouse. "There was only one other person who has ever said that to me, and I used to believe her. But now my reason for being here has gone along with her to her grave…." She turned around and took Liira by the hand, leading her into the house. She smiled again. "Come sit down. I promise I won't bite," she joked.

Liira followed her inside wordlessly, her heart beating a bit faster. The front entrance was brilliantly fashioned with white marble floors, walls the color of the brightest pink imaginable, pink curtains covering the windows, and a crystal chandelier on the ceiling. Two large, double doors opened up to the ballroom, which had a small parlor room to the left and a flight of stairs at the back wall. As Glinda led her to where the parlor room, the green girl noticed that on the east wall was the dining room.

"This place is so beautiful," Liira said softly. She didn't think Glinda heard her, so she didn't repeat herself; it flustered her enough having the blonde invite her inside. The green girl followed her into the parlor room, except that it looked more like an office or a library. There were bookshelves that covered entire walls, save the few windows, and a desk in the back for work that was covered with papers. In the center of the room was a circle of chairs around a table, which also had a few opened books on top.

Glinda sat down in one of them and patted the armrest of the chair beside her as an invitation for the green girl to sit down as well. The moment she did, the blonde took her green hands again. "I can't stress to you enough how glad I am you came. Anyone else would be a total waste of my time," she said.

Almost instantly the green girl felt the speech she had planned out for her questioning about the Witch of the West disappeared from her mind. All she could do was just look at the Good Witch in complete shock at her words. "What do you mean?" she asked after she found her voice.

"I mean exactly what I said. Really—everyone else would just be fawning over what a complete success I am as the ruler of Oz. You're the only person since Elphie who has ever treated me like a real person!" The blonde sat back in her chair and let out a breath. She glanced back over at Liira, smiling sheepishly when she saw the surprised look on her face. "Sorry, dear, but I just had to get that out. Sometimes being a national leader isn't all it seems to be, and I'm getting tired of it all."

"You aren't going to quit though, are you?" Liira asked. "You really are the best thing that's ever happened to Oz. Even when the Wizard of Oz was still in power, it was you who helped bring these people back to their sanity while the Wicked Witch was still—" She stopped the moment she saw Glinda's body stiffen, and once again she felt like she had to back off. There was obviously more to this than what she was letting on….

Glinda sighed and shifted a bit in her chair to get in a more comfortable position. She muttered another apology that Liira barely caught on, a sad look crossing those delicate features. This time she didn't look at her. After a moment of trying to regain her composure, the blonde spoke again. "Something tells me that you want to talk about her," she said with sorrow lacing her words.

Liira was shocked at how upset the woman sounded. How could she seem so sad at the sound of the Witch's title? Still, she wasn't going to let this go; she didn't come here to be rejected. "What can you tell me about the Witch?" she asked.

Again Glinda seemed to flinch. She sniffled a bit before saying, "She had a name, you know. I'd prefer you'd call her by it."

She was going into uncharted territory here just by hearing the sound of her voice. It had gotten more fragile, and she was on the verge of breaking at any given moment._ Don't back down, girl,_ Liira told herself. "What was it?"

Glinda took in a breath and let it out slowly, trying to bring herself to calm down for a reason unknown to the green girl. Finally she resolved to squeeze Liira's hand tightly as she tried to get a grip on her emotions. "Her name… her name was Elphaba," the blonde woman said, a single tear running down her face.


	9. Chapter 8 Revelations and a Proposal

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Eight:

_"Her name… her name was Elphaba," the blonde woman said, a single tear running down her face._

"Elphaba?" Liira repeated only to have Glinda the Good almost dissolve into heart-breaking sobs. But just almost. The blonde seemed to be keeping them back, her grip on Liira's hand tightening in the process. She let her hold her green hand, using her other one to tilt Glinda's chin up so that she could look at her. Those stunning sapphire irises caught her own, the blonde's eyes welling with tears that she refused to shed. "Mind giving me some more detail, Miss Glinda?" she asked softly.

Glinda nodded, then shook her head. "I don't mind," she whispered. She got out a handkerchief and set it to the side—Lurline knew she was going to need it. "Okay; ask away, Liira."

The green girl hated doing this. Glinda was in enough pain already; she was obviously going to make things worse if she continued. She shook the feeling of guilt off of her just as quickly as it had come. "Who exactly is this Elphaba person?" she asked.

The blonde suddenly sat up a bit straighter, her eyes shining like a teenage girl about to tell the biggest secret of her life. In a way, this _was_ the biggest secret of her life. This was the chance of finally getting the truth out there, something that would change all of Oz's opinion about the Witch. "She was Elphaba Thropp, Thropp Third Descending from Rush Margins of Nest Hardings of Munchkinland. You would have known her just by looking at her; she stood out like a sore thumb even in the largest crowd. I'd say that you were her mirror-image except for those blue eyes of yours."

"What was she like? How did you know her?" Liira was completely interested in this story now. Just the thought of the Wicked Witch of the West once being a normal person intrigued her.

"She was… difficult to deal with, in lack of a better term. I absolutely hated her when I first met her at Shiz University, and she obviously felt the same way. What was worse was that we were _roommates!_ I nearly killed Madame Morrible for pairing me with that horrible green thing. Only Lurline knows why I didn't; that old hag was such a pain in the ass." Glinda smiled to herself. "But I'm glad she _did_ pair us up. Elphaba was the best thing that ever happened to me, despite the heated arguments we got into at times," she said.

Liira nodded. "So… you became friends, right?" the green girl asked. She could feel the grip on her hand loosen much to her relief—the blood was beginning to cut off from the pressure exerted on it.

Glinda smiled even more, her body turning in the chair so that she was looking straight at the green girl. "We were more than just friends! It was almost like she was a sister I never had by the time the second semester began. Elphaba helped me with my sorcery homework while I tried to get her to be more sociable. Unfortunately, the latter didn't exactly work out as much as I had hoped." She giggled, making her sound like she was back in her college years. The blonde grew quiet as she thought about the things of her past. Her smile lessened a little bit, her face turning a light shade of pink as she came upon one, it seemed. "A lot of things happened between us, things I wouldn't trade for the world."

"Such as…?"

The blush deepened, making her face surpass the color of the pink dress she had worn that day. "She gave me my first kiss…."

Liira nearly fell out of her chair at that one. Her eyes widened and her face turned its darkest green yet. "She did _what?!_" she cried.

Glinda frowned, her own face darkening at Liira's reaction. "It really wasn't that serious, Liira. There was just this one time when we were staying up late on the weekend that I was trying to get her nose out of the usual book with a sort of conversation. After dozens of fruitless attempts to get her to speak I finally asked her if she had ever been kissed…." She trailed off as she went to bite her lip in her nervousness.

"And what was her reply?" Liira asked.

The blonde swallowed. "She said no, she hadn't, and why the hell would I want to know something as foolish as that. After a moment of silence—I couldn't and didn't want to answer her question—she asked me the same question I asked her. I told her I hadn't either; it was the truth, I hadn't. And so she closed the book, walked over to my bed, leaned down to where I was, and… she kissed me." Glinda sighed. "It wasn't a full-blown kiss—that I can assure you. But it wasn't a single peck on the lips either."

The green girl looked away from her then, trying to hide her own embarrassment. A question suddenly struck her, and so she went with it. "Did you love her?" she inquired.

There was a pause, then, "I suppose I did love her…." Glinda shook her head, her blonde curls moving from side to side with it. "I can't think like that, though. I promised myself I wouldn't. She couldn't have ever loved me in return, so I _can't_…."

Liira's soft grip on Glinda's pale hand tightened a little bit, alerting the blonde that she was still there. The Good Witch's head shot in the green girl's direction, shock and confusion settling in her eyes until everything came back to her. Liira smiled at her. "If you don't want this to be known, everything you've just told me will be safe with me, Miss Glinda," she informed her.

The blonde nodded, her face still flushed. "Was I any help to you, or was I just rambling like an idiot most of the time to you?" she asked with a small smile.

"You answered a few of my questions, but it's all pretty much one-sided until I get Miss Elphaba's view on things," Liira said, smiling back at her. She then stood up and grabbed her broom. "I'm sorry if I wasted your time with all of these questions, Miss Glinda. I really must be going now; you must want to call in the Gale Force to lock me up by now."

"That's not true!" the blonde exclaimed, grabbing the young girl's arm before she made it out of the parlor room. "To be honest, I'm really hoping you'd stay the rest of the week. You know, to just… just relax…." She got quiet when Liira turned and raised an eyebrow at her in surprise. Once again she went back to biting her bottom lip—it must be a habit.

Liira faced her completely, letting out a sigh as she did. "Miss Glinda, I don't want to intrude—"

"You won't be intruding! I'm giving you an invitation to stay here."

"Then as an invitation, I must decline. I'll only be getting in the way here, and that is for certain."

Glinda looked up at her, glaring at the green girl to try to intimidate her. "Look, I know you have nowhere else to stay. This is your only chance at having a place where you can have peace knowing that there is no one coming to get—"

"I appreciate the offer, but this really isn't necessary—"

"Liira, just take the damn offer. I don't want to lose anyone else important to me!"

Just by looking into those blue eyes, which were now lighter in color due to Glinda's fear and anguish at the mention of her past losses, Liira made her decision. _Why is it that this woman has such a control over me?_ she wondered for what seemed like the hundredth time in a course of eight days. She let out a sigh, smiling down at the blonde despite herself. "How do people put up with you, Miss Glinda?" she asked rhetorically.

Glinda answered anyway. "I have no clue whatsoever," she said with a smile. "Oh, and now that you're staying—and if that wasn't a yes, I'll have to order you to stay here—please cut the 'Miss Glinda' stuff. Okay?"

Liira opened her mouth to protest, thought better of it, and closed her mouth again. She merely nodded at the blonde's second request. It was better not to argue with the ruler of Oz; who knows what may happen to the unfortunate souls that do. The green girl followed her out of the parlor room, and then made her way to the entrance. She looked back over her shoulder at the now glaring blonde and she smiled reassuringly. "I have to get a few things. I promise I'll be right back," she said as she walked out the door. For what seemed like the thousandth time doing so, Liira mounted her broom and sped off to the west, not even bothering to look back.


	10. Chapter 9 Encountering Fae

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Nine:

_For what seemed like the thousandth time doing so, Liira mounted her broom and sped off to the west, not even bothering to look back._

This time she did not merely wait outside the window for signs of someone being there. Liira flew into the castle, tearing through the curtain that blocked the light from shining into the room that remained intact. She immediately made her way to the desk, not bothering to see if that same crazed woman was still there, and went to take the diary. It had all the pieces to the puzzle that she needed. Not only could this tell her more about the Witch—Elphaba—but it could possibly help Glinda convince the rest of Oz that she was not as evil as they had believed for so many years.

Again she felt the hand grab her shoulder, only this time the person's finger nails bit into Liira's shoulder. She resisted the pain she felt and snatched the book into her arms, holding it to her body like it was her last lifeline. The green girl held tighter as another hand snaked around her and attempted to yank it out of her grasp. Finally Liira removed one arm from around the diary and grabbed a bucket that held rainwater. The woman let out a yelp of surprise and she jumped back, forgetting about her task entirely as apparent fear gripped her.

Liira stared at the woman for a moment, taking advantage of the light that was pouring inside the room. She really wasn't much to look at. She was clad entirely in a black dress that went down to her feet, matching gloves that covered her hands, a pointed hat that was tipped low to conceal her face. Scarves covered her neck, hiding the rest of her skin. It was a sad sight to see for someone to want to hide away from the world like this…. "Who are you?" Liira found herself asking the woman.

There was a pause from her, her head lowered as her eyes were still locked on the bucket of water that was still clutched in the green girl's hand. "I'm nothing in this world anymore. Just an apparition of what Oz once knew," the woman replied. She gestured toward the bucket of water. "It doesn't hurt you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I figured that since you _looked_ like the Witch you must have her same condition," was the sharp reply.

Liira set the water down, glancing at her hand to see if any damage had been done. She then looked back at the woman. "That doesn't matter. And a name was what I needed. What's your name?" she asked.

Another hesitation came from the woman before, "My name's Fae." She seemed to flinch a bit at the sound of her own first name. Fae quickly recovered and asked, "What are you planning to do with the diary?"

"I'm going to show it to Miss Glinda. She may be able to—" Liira dodged the woman as she lunged at her, fear shining in Fae's brown eyes. The green girl hurried over to her broom, and she waved it in front of her for protection. "She may be able to clear the Witch's name."

Fae growled. "She's going to do _what?_ Wasn't she told not to?" She went to her fruitless tactics of pacing and muttering to herself. Finally she put her hand to her head, turning to Liira. "That foolish girl is only going to get herself killed. And besides, what's in that diary is private. No one—not even Glinda—is supposed to read it."

Liira shrugged. "It doesn't really matter if she's not alive to know about it." She dodged Fae yet again, this time with her being the target instead of the book in her hands. "Are you _crazy?!_"

"Have you no consideration for the dead!" Fae was yelling, overpowering Liira's own shouts. "It doesn't matter if she's dead or not. This diary isn't meant to be passed around for foolish gossip." Her eyes were hardening with every word; her face must no doubt have been twisted in her anger. "It has everything written in it: Hopes, dreams, goals in life that one could only imagine. If this were to get into Glinda's hands everything would be—_will _be ruined!"

The green girl glared back at her, bringing herself to her full height—she was about two inches shorter than Fae. "This is something that Glinda herself cares about—it's not something that she's going to just throw away like it's nothing. You should have seen the look on her face on the anniversary of the Witch's death. This diary is the only connection she has to her."

"She's hiding in the past."

"She loved her!" Liira saw the woman's eyes widen in shock, but then they softened significantly. Fae backed away only to begin pacing again like the madwoman she was. The green girl could see her cast looks in her direction, all of them ranging from malice to confusion. Liira sighed and stepped up to the windowsill to once again fly off toward Lake Chorge. She was stopped by a hoarse whisper of a voice, unmistakably Fae's.

"Glinda loved her…." A soft laugh came from the woman. "Now I've heard everything. There is no way that someone like her could love one as evil as that Witch. It's always been a lie if you're telling me the truth."

Liira turned back to the open window. She sighed. "Imperfection is perfection in perfection's eyes. Miss Glinda can see past impurity and find purity, and she tries to make the impure understand that they are not." The green girl sighed again and mounted the broomstick. "Of course, what do I know about how that mind works? I've only just met her," she said before disappearing with the diary tucked under her arm. Liira glanced behind her, just to get one more glimpse of the woman being left behind.

There was no mistaking it—flesh as green as sin glared back at her.


	11. Chapter 10 Unlocking the Past

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Ten:

_There was no mistaking it—flesh as green as sin glared back at her._

The words of Fae echoed throughout the flight back to Lake Chorge. It seemed strange that Glinda _would_ fall in love with the Witch of the West. But if you looked at their history—which, Liira had to admit, she knew close to nothing about—it seemed reasonable. They had been together for a long time, ever since college.

Liira frowned. There was something about Fae that disturbed her. It was like she was hiding something…. But of course she would. Liira was someone who had just walked into two separate lives, and _one_ of them had to not trust her. She would have done the same thing.

But still… something just wasn't right about her.

The green girl flew into an open window of the mansion, one on the second floor. She was amazed at how gracefully she had landed. She was obviously getting better at this flying thing. Liira looked around to see where she was. Well of course…. If she hadn't caught the walls of books in the room she'd be blind. Liira rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. _Why hadn't I noticed before?_

Her blue eyes caught a leather-bound tome resting on the table. The book was open, its yellowing pages exposed to the light of the sun and the chandelier. Liira went to it cautiously. It seemed to be calling to her—not with words but with the energy eminating from it…. She shook her head. Oh, so books could talk now? Her mind was definitely out of it lately.

She peered over it, her curiosity taking over mostly. Liira skimmed the pages revealed to her, but then she went back to look at it more thoroughly. _What the hell is this?_ The words weren't words at all—they were just random letters made to _look_ like words. The longer she would stare at a word, however, it would reform in her brain as something more coherent. But then it slipped from her grasp a second later. The green girl frowned. This was so strange….

"Can you read it?"

Liira and her heart jumped at the sound of the female voice. Glinda had to stop scaring her—once was enough when they first met. She turned around, then froze. This wasn't Glinda. Standing in front of her was a blonde young woman that seemed Liira's age and was only slightly taller than the ruler of Oz. She wore a pale pink dress—what was it with the color pink here?—and a black scarf with a rose design was tied loosely around her neck. But instead of blue eyes, this girl had brown.

The girl's eyes went from Liira to the book, then back again. "Not many can, you know. Actually, none at all," she continued. Her voice was light yet commanding, and not as high in pitched as Glinda's. Close, but not quite. "But you looked like you understood it. Or was that just a trick of the light?"

Liira swallowed her uneasiness and went back to the tome. "Not really. It faintly makes sense, but when I try to piece the words together it goes back to useless words." She looked over her shoulder at the blonde. "What about you?"

The girl laughed. "I couldn't read that book to save my life! That was really the Witch's—the Good Witch took it from her before she was murdered. I was told that the Witch could read it like it was of the Ozian language, so I figured you would be the same. You do look like her, you know."

The green girl nodded slowly as she still stared at this girl. She didn't know for certain whether what she said was the truth—she didn't know anything of the Witch, after all. But if this girl was saying this, and the Gale Force seemed to be convinced of the same thing, then maybe…. She sighed. No, that couldn't be right. She wasn't born with any of this—it was just a curse.

She extended her hand, a warmer smile taking place of her previous one. "My name is Fabala Ariella Upland of the Upper Uplands of Gillikin. Who might you be?"

Before Liira could reply, the doors to the library were suddenly thrown open. Another blonde sauntered into the room, fuming quietly with her jaw clenched tight and her eyes narrowed. "Those immature little bastards…. I swear, one day I'm going to drag them off to be hanged if they ask one more time to—" She was cut off at the sight of the two girls. Her face turned a bright pink when her eyes wandered directly to Liira's. "You're back!" she cried in a voice a little higher than usual.

The green girl frowned at the older woman. Never before had she seen her so upset…. "Is anything wrong, Miss Glinda?" Liira asked only to be glared at by the older woman. She ignored this—being scolded about using honorifics was the least of her concerns.

Glinda shook her head, her eyes returning back to their original color and softness. She sat down at the table and said, "Just some suitors. Not for you, Fabala; apparently they think that since now I'm in power they can have a better shot…. Please, I'm nearly forty years of age!" The blonde closed her eyes and let out a breath. After a minute she opened one eye to look at Liira. "I see that you've already met my daughter."

The green girl's eyes shifted to Fabala. She was standing a good distance away, tugging absently at the black scarf around her neck. So this was the daughter of Glinda the Good. She wasn't even aware that she had children. "I have," the green girl confirmed.

"And did you get what you needed?"

Liira noticed that Glinda's gaze had drifted to the notebook that was held under her arm. She nodded and went to the table. "Yes I did," she replied as she set the book on the table. Her eyes went to Glinda's, which had widened a bit in surprise. Liira sat down beside her. "It's the diary of the Witch of the West," she explained.

Glinda didn't seem to be listening to her. She ran her hands slowly over the cover, her fingers taking in every detail that her eyes didn't catch. The blonde picked it up and went to open it to read it, but she set it back down, shoving it over to the green girl as tears formed, like it was something that could decide their fates all on its own. She bit her lip to keep her emotions back.

Fabala took a step forward to get a better look at the diary. Her eyes then went to her mother, who was almost on the verge of tears it seemed. "What is it?" she asked Glinda, who merely shook her head.

The older blonde sniffled a bit, then let out a shaky breath to try to regain her composure. "It's nothing. Just a few memories…." She forced out a small laugh. "This is the same notebook that I gave to her when we were still at Shiz. I never thought she'd actually _use _it; I never saw it again after I gave it to her…." Glinda shook her head again, pushing the diary even closer to the green girl. "Could you be a dear and read this aloud? I'm afraid I don't have the strength to face this," she mumbled.

Liira nodded again. She took the diary into her hands and flipped it to the opening page. In wavy, slanted handwriting that looked even better than at the end was the name _Elphaba Thropp_. Also on the first page were notes that were crossed out, rewritten, and crossed out again, all in a futile attempt to concentrate on the lesson. The green girl turned through a few more, which were pretty much repeats of the first, until she came to the desired page.

Her eyes hadn't even touched the first word before she looked back at Glinda, who already had quiet tears streaming down her face. Liira wanted so much to wipe them away, to get her to stop crying, but her natural aversion to water kept her from doing so. _Besides, it isn't your place. You barely even know her…._ "Are you certain that you want me to read this?" she asked quietly.

Glinda nodded. "Go ahead, Liira. It'll do us both some good," the blonde replied with a sigh. She frowned, her eyes casting a vengeful look at the diary in Liira's hands. "It's either that or we burn it. I don't think I want to know what that green thing has to say." Her gaze softened when she directed it back at Liira. "No offense."

"None taken," Liira replied with a smile. The green girl then looked back into the book. The tension in the air increased significantly as they waited for the first words to be uttered by her. Even Fabala, who was new to the situation, was catching in on the stress of it. She drew in a shaky breath, let it out, and began to read: "The first of August, 1879, Crage Hall, Shiz University…."


	12. Chapter 11 The Diary

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Eleven:

"_The first of August, 1879, Crage Hall, Shiz University…."_

Liira stared at the opening line, blinked a few times, then continued:

"_I can't understand how I can possibly feel this way about her. She is everything I should despise in life—Lurline knows she hates me. But I find myself attracted to her like a moth to a flame. I enjoy seeing her smile, hearing her laugh and her voice—that high soprano of a voice that I notice becomes higher when she's excited or upset. I don't let her know that I am enraptured when she graces me with her presence, for I have learned several years ago how to hold back every emotion. I also don't want to drive her away by expressing such feelings."_

The green girl stole a glance at Fabala and Glinda—the older of which was staring at the table and trying to take in the words being spoken—before going on.

"_I don't know if I can describe my feelings toward the blonde with the accuracy I have when caught in my schoolwork. But if I had to guess, then—dare I say it—I am in love with my roommate, Miss Galinda._

_-Elphaba Thropp"_

There was a small gasp from beside the green girl, and a small hand grasped her own in a desperate attempt to keep herself together. Unfortunately, nothing could prevent the tears that sprang to Glinda's eyes. Everything just kept falling apart….

Liira frowned at the entry, going over it to make sure that she had read it correctly. _Galinda…._ The same name kept running through her mind, sounding more and more familiar every round it took. Unfortunately, she didn't have the mind of a scholar, so wherever she had heard the name, she couldn't quite remember. Or maybe she could—she just couldn't bring herself to call upon the memory.

_You're thinking too much…._

The green girl sighed and went to another page. It was all information on school and someone named Dr. Dillamond—apparently he was a teacher at Shiz University who was hell-bent on proving that Animals and humans were the same despite their differences. Finally she came across another entry, this time dated around Lurlinemas. Liira looked over it, then glanced over at the crying woman beside her. "Do you want me to go on?" she asked the blonde.

She nodded, drying her tears. "Damned emotions…. It's all initial shock, Liira; I had no idea she really felt that way about me," she said in a voice that was barely audible. Glinda shook her head. "Go on."

Liira let out a breath. This was going to be interesting…. She braced herself for another wave of tears that may come from the blonde as she read:

"_The twenty-fourth of December, 1879_

"_Galinda has been a lot more perkier than usual, and I've finally had an insight as to why this is: Lurlinemas is tomorrow. Usually I would groan and tell everyone around me to sod off before I _really_ give them something to celebrate—I was thinking a full recovery from a major concussion would do nicely. But this one blonde girl has made me feel differently about the holiday. Of course, she's also given me reason to rethink life itself._

_It just so happens that Lurlinemas is Miss Galinda's favorite holiday. She just goes on and on about what she's going to get for her friends and her parents. It seems impossible, I know, but she sounds less conceited at this time of year than any other—"_

"'Conceited'?!" Glinda cried, all sadness disappearing from her tone. In its place was wild anger that also seemed to burn from her eyes. If it were possible, her gaze would have ignited the diary and the person holding it in flames. "I was a fucking _teenager!_ Sure, I was a bit bossy, but _conceited?_ That's too harsh, even from someone like her!" She flushed upon saying such a powerful word, but the fire of fury still held in her eyes.

Liira and Fabala exchanged glances while the older blonde fumed. "No idea," her daughter mouthed to Liira; the green girl shrugged. Her blue eyes returned to the diary to finish the entry.

"_Just when I thought things could get any worse, everything switched around. 'What would you like for Lurlinemas, Elphie?' she asked me earlier today. I was completely speechless—I still am, believe it or not. Here she was, Miss Never-Give-You-The-Time-of-Day, talking to me! The Unnamed God must be trying to convince me that He is real._

"_I told her what my heart told me to say, if such thing exists within me. I wanted a heart, a soul, the capability to love and be loved as well as to have other feelings. But that's all wishful thinking—it could never happen._

"_There was a pause from before Miss Galinda spoke again. Something like, 'I guess I could love you if you wanted me to.' It was _something_ like that! I may have heard her wrong._

"_I must stop here, for I am no too wound up to write, let alone think. Curse these feelings to hell…._

_-Elphaba Thropp"_

Silence met the end of the entry, so Liira went on. Yet another five logs on the research of Dr. Dillamond, followed by his death—a murder by a tick-tock creature—and then a trip to the Emerald City to speak with the Wizard about the cruel Animal Banns. After the meeting with the Wizard of Oz, the two girls went their separate ways, Glinda going back to Shiz while Elphaba stayed behind to be a part of some revolt against the government. There wasn't another entry for what seemed to be about five years after the parting of Glinda and Elphaba, and the one that finally did appear shocked the green girl to no end.

"_The thirty-first of October, 1887_

"_After all these years of trying to keep her out of my life, she finally came to me. And on Kumbria, even! Somehow Glinda found my little hideaway in the warehouses on the outskirts of the Emerald City—I shall kill Fiyero if he was the one who pointed it out, albeit unknowingly. Apparently no time had passed between us when she rushed into my arms the moment she saw me. And that single kiss she gave me led to our undoing…."_

The green girl's face turned an even darker green. She looked up at Glinda, who had her eyes trained on her hands clasped tightly in her lap, biting her lip as Liira spoke. She continued nonetheless.

"_I'm not one to going into detail into things like this; why do you think I've spared writing about my encounters with the Prince of the Arjikis (damn that bastard to hell)? But this was—no, it _is_—different than my affair with him. I've always loved Glinda more than anything in the world. This did not change through the years, and I hope that she'll be able to see that after what we've done…. Just the thought of her is making me blush like a foolish teenager—allow me a few minutes to calm down._

"_Unfortunately, I've come to realize that she's married. Married to a blasted society bastard, just like others would have predicted. I thought she was better than that…. But Glinda told me that she never really loved him. She only married this person—Sir Chuffrey, was it?—to somehow fill the void in her life that was the result of me leaving it. Seriously, I never thought that she felt that way about me. Well, of course I do now, but not before; not after I sent her back to Shiz. Above all things I thought that she'd hate me, not love me!_

"_She's coming back tonight, she told me this morning. Thank Lurline or the Unnamed God or whoever that Fiyero isn't going to be here and I don't have any assignments. I wouldn't want to miss her for the world._

"_Let's just hope that all goes well tonight._

_-Elphie"_

Liira decided to close the diary after that. She thought her eyes were going to bleed, not to mention her brain imploding. The Witch and Glinda the Good? _Lovers?_ That couldn't be right! She looked up again at the two women before her for confirmation, or, hopefully, denial. Her eyes went to Fabala first, whose eyes were as big as saucers as she gaped at her mother. Glinda, to Liira's horror, was blushing furiously, playing with her fingers to distract herself. A moment of an eerie silence passed between the three of them before the green girl spoke. "You weren't kidding," she nearly whispered.

The Good Witch looked up at her and cocked her head to one side slightly in confusion.

Liira cleared her throat, shaking her head to clear it of the fog that had settled within the depths of her mind. "You really did love her, didn't you? You weren't kidding when you told me that a week ago," she said.

Glinda could only nod her head in reply. A moment later, Fabala stood up and walked out of the room, albeit _calmly,_ it seemed. The remaining blonde woman looked down at her hands, biting down on her lower lip even harder to stop the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. "I'm sorry, Liira…. You must be upset. I mean, no one would ever expect…." She closed her eyes, her head turning away a bit to completely avoid Liira. She couldn't finish her sentence; it was too painful.

The green girl moved her chair closer to the Good Witch's, taking her hand as a way to console her. Glinda immediately looked back at her, tears already escaping. Liira grabbed the handkerchief that had been abandoned on the table and wiped the tears off of her face for her. "I don't really care," she said. "I'm shocked that it would really happen, but I guess it doesn't really matter if you were happy."

"Oh, Liira, you have no idea! I loved her so much—more than my own husband! I just can't see how anyone would believe that anyone so loving and caring could possibly be evil. It's wrong…." The blonde smiled wanly. "Of course, being in love with such a person is considered wrong as well."

Liira nodded, though she could only imagine how Glinda really felt. She had never been in love herself—how could she possibly understand what it was like to lose someone you cared for? The green girl sighed and took the book off the table, tucking it under her arm as she stood. "I think we should return this. Fae is angry with me already. I don't want to make it worse," she said.

Glinda looked at her in confusion, again tilting her head to the side. "Fae?" she questioned.

"The woman who stays at the castle in Kiamo Ko." Liira shook her head and let out a breath. "I swear, that woman's crazy, yet she knows what she's talking about, I guess." She picked up the broom and sort of waved it. "I think she's the one that gave me this broom in the Emerald City. That's how I managed to slip past the guards when I accidentally interrupted your speech."

"Oh," was the only thing that the blonde could bring herself to say. She stood up as well, drying the rest of her tears and straightening out the skirt of her dress. Glinda then pulled Liira into a hug, which made the green girl stiffen a little at first before she relaxed; she wasn't used to such gestures, especially from the ruler of Oz. "Promise me that you'll come back, Liira. Please?" she almost begged.

Liira nodded, pulling away from the woman. Without another word she went to the window, mounted the broom, and kicked off from the ground, racing toward the west for what she hoped would be the last time.


	13. Chapter 12 The Witch

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Twelve:

_Without another word she went to the window, mounted the broom, and kicked off from the ground, racing toward the west for what she hoped would be the last time._

The winds blew harder from the west than usual as Liira tried to fly back to Kiamo Ko. It was as if the heavens were telling her to turn back; her stubbornness would not allow it. The green girl leaned forward, gripped the broom tighter as she streaked across the sky in a black and green blur. She had to return the diary. She had to assure Fae that she was not an enemy… no matter what she thought about her.

Liira was nearly knocked off the broom when another gust of wind attempted to push her back to Lake Chorge. She gritted her teeth as she fought to keep the broom steady—it seemed to tremble the closer she got to the castle. "Steady now," she murmured to it, feeling foolish as she did. "Just keep on until we reach the castle." _Or else I'll set you ablaze, _she thought, but she didn't say it. Tricks were her nature, not threats.

She allowed herself to drop to a lower altitude when she reached the northwest, where Kiamo Ko was located in the Vinkus. Liira glided into the southern tower, as usual, preparing for the usual snappy comment from the woman that inhabited the castle now.

Silence.

The green girl looked around the room, squinting into the shadows where Fae would for certain be lurking. No one was there. _This can't be good,_ Liira thought. Her heart began to beat faster in fear. What if something bad happened to her? Sure she was a little off, but she couldn't help but be scared for the woman. After all, she _did _save her from the Gale Force…. "Fae?" she called out softly.

Silence.

"Fae," she called again, walking out of the room and into the stairwell. Liira slowly went down the stairs, checking the extra rooms that were hidden in the walls. She had to be here somewhere. Wasn't she the guardian of this castle now that Elphaba was gone? _Elphaba…._ Liira let out a breath and continued searching. She couldn't get lost in thought now. Finding Fae was more important.

_It's strange how you hate her one moment and then you start worrying for her safety another._

Liira shook her head to clear her mind of all of these impending thoughts. She had no idea what this sudden change was about. Maybe it was because she was probably the only one besides Glinda the Good that had a connection with Elphaba—the Witch of the West. Maybe it was just humane thought and consideration rushing up to actually feel for the manic woman.

_You can't feel for anyone—Witches are inhuman._

Again she shook her head to chase the thought away. Witches were as human as anyone else; they just had other, special abilities. And, that being said, so what if she cared—actually _cared_—about the madwoman? It wasn't a crime; it was merely concern for another human being. Something that she's been feeling a lot lately. Besides, Fae was the last remaining connection to the Witch of the West, not including Glinda the Good. She was the only one that could really answer her questions without filling in the blanks with half-truths.

Not that she was calling the ruler of Oz a liar….

The green girl opened her mouth to call for Fae again, but then she felt herself being yanked into another room, a firm hand settling over her mouth. Liira's first instinct was to scream, then to try and fight back—yeah, like that was _really _going to work—but she quieted the moment she heard the familiar growl of a voice: "Keep quiet. They'll hear you!"

Liira moved out of her captor's grasp, turning to get a look at who it was. The window was open, letting light flood in to make her task easier. But what she saw was not what she expected. Standing right in front of her, dressed entirely in black, was a woman with green flesh, the same as hers if not a tinge darker. Liira's eyes widened. "Sister Aelphaba?" she gasped.

The woman glared at her. "I am known as many things; that particular name is dead to me," came the reply. She crossed her arms, her eyes hardening even more. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to return the diary." Liira handed her the book reluctantly, still staring at the woman before her. She frowned. "You're Elphaba, then," she said. It wasn't a question but a statement. The woman stiffened visibly, and Liira knew she was right. She beamed. "So you're the one Glinda was talking about! Elphaba, Sister Aelphaba, Fae… the Wicked Witch of the West!"

The hand clamped over her mouth again, but this time with a lot more force. "Would you _hush up_?" the Witch hissed, her brown eyes darting toward the door. Just as they did, the pounding of boots against stone and the shouts of men sounded in the distance. Her eyes widened in fear as the noise came closer. She quickly grabbed Liira's arm and pulled her to the window. "You need to get out of here; you'll be killed if you stay!" she cried, her voice etched with the unexpected fear that shone in her eyes.

"What about you?" Liira asked.

The Witch looked back at the door, which was now on the verge of being beaten down. "I'll be fine," she replied. "Now go, before they see you!"

The door was blown off its hinges just then, and several of the Gale Force soldiers flooded into the room, surrounding the two witches in a matter of seconds.


	14. Chapter 13 Gale Force

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Thirteen:

_The door was blown off its hinges just then, and several of the Gale Force soldiers flooded into the room, surrounding the two witches in a matter of seconds._

Liira clenched her teeth, her eyes darting across the soldiers dressed in gold and emerald military uniforms. "Too late now," she growled at the Witch, who merely glared at her in turn.

One of the soldiers—it was hard to describe what he looked like because every one of them looked the same as the other—stepped forward with a scroll clutched in his gloved hand. He quickly unfurled it, his jaw clenched tight, and he nearly yelled what it said. "By order of Glinda the Good, we are under orders to take the Wicked Witch of the West and her accomplice, the Wicked Witch of the Emerald City, under custody, followed by a public execution," he cried in one breath. "Any objections will be met by instant death."

The green girl gaped at this. Glinda set them up? That couldn't be right! And she was so nice to her after all this time….

_You should have never trusted her. She means nothing but trouble…._

Why was she doing this to the _Witch_, the one she had a shared history with? Didn't she love Elphaba?

_That was a long time ago. Things change._

Before they knew it, the guards rushed forward to seize them. They only managed to come halfway before the Witch of the West took Liira's broom and swung it at them, knocking a good number of them to the ground. She grabbed the dazed girl's arm and dragged her to the window again—she shoved the guards in front of the window over the ledge where they met their untimely deaths. Without another word she leaped into the air, straddling the broom as they began to plummet back to the ground.

Amazingly, the broom managed to lift them both. Elphaba secured her younger counterpart closer to her body as they flew through the air. Suddenly the broomstick's velocity began to falter, and it slowly began to lower to the ground as well. They had barely even made it past thirteen feet by estimate—not a very far distance. The Witch cursed the broom, cursed herself for even thinking that this would work. She fought to keep the broom in the air, but it through both females off just as fast. It was a good thing they were close to ground for that.

Elphaba quickly got up off of the ground, then began looking for Liira. It didn't take her long—she was lying on the ground, her head against a small boulder. This wasn't good. She could hear the soldiers coming closer—or was that just the cold air carrying their voices over from a farther distance? In any case she eased the green girl to her feet, only to have her collapse back to the ground in her unconscious state. She picked her up in her arms this time, making her way back to the broom to hopefully give it another go.

She knew by now that this was a pathetic and futile attempt. But that didn't mean that she wasn't going to at least try.

The voices came louder, the loud footsteps muffled by the grassy terrain. Elphaba knew it was too late now to try to make an escape. She crouched low to the ground, grasping the broomstick like it was a weapon. It _had _to be a weapon; it was her only defense against these bastards. The Witch stared ahead, ready to strike at any moment to protect herself and Liira at any and all costs.

She saw them now—a huge blur of green and gold rushing toward her with their swords unsheathed. Elphaba readied herself to attack as well. It was too late to back down now…. Suddenly there was a cry behind her, followed by a flash of pink light, then….

Nothing.

-( )-

"Liira? Liira, come on, girl. Wake up."

The green girl let out a groan and turned over in what felt like a bed. She yawned. "Five more minutes," she mumbled against a pillow, her eyes never opening.

There was a sigh of relief, then, "I guess that means you're awake. Glinda will be thrilled."

Liira's eyes shot open the moment she heard that name. They burned with the sudden intensity of the sunlight shining in them, but she resisted it. Her blurry gaze settled on a familiar green woman, who was staring at her in slight alarm yet remained as steady and emotionless as ever. Liira gaped at her. "Elphaba?" She looked around the plainly decorated room that looked as big as her old apartment, though she knew that it was actually more or less bigger. "Where are we?" she finally asked.

Elphaba allowed a small smile to cross her lips. "Welcome to the Caprice-of-the-Pines, the summer home of Glinda the Good, passed down in a will from her accursed friend Miss Pfannee, who passed away apparently ten years previous," she replied.

"What?!"

The Witch waved her hand in front of her, as if trying to wave Liira's worries away. "Don't worry; I was assured that this was all a huge misunderstanding."

Liira looked at her warily, then her eyes gleamed with surprise. "You mean… you talked to her?" the green girl asked.

Elphaba flinched a bit. "Not really. I talked to her daughter—at least, I _think_ she's her daughter. I'm not entirely sure…." She shook her head to clear it before continuing. "Anyway, she said that it was probably all just a hoax. Someone in the military apparently must have seen you—" The Witch leveled a glare in Liira's direction, making her flush with shame, "—then they went to the archives, drew up a warrant for the both of us whether they knew I was alive or not, forged Glinda's name—how _that's_ possible, I have no earthly idea—and went off to Kiamo Ko, where they were certain you would go. Don't worry; not all of the blame is placed on you. I was stupid enough not to just leave Oz."

"Wait," Liira said, crossing her arms in front of her in a 'time-out' gesture. She looked at Elphaba in confusion. "How did you survive the melting? You were completely destroyed—you fooled Oz for two years! How did you do it?"

The Witch opened her mouth to reply, her expression already returning to its usual scowl, when suddenly the door was thrown open, almost to the point where it was thrown off its hinges like the door in Kiamo Ko. Elphaba jumped to her feet to face whoever it was, but instead of there being another crowd of soldiers there was a petite blonde-haired woman with blood-shot blue eyes. Her dark eyes hardened at the sight of this person. "Well if it isn't Miss Glinda the Good…."


	15. Chapter 14 End It All

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Fourteen:

"_Well if it isn't Miss Glinda the Good…."_

The atmosphere of the room changed in a heartbeat. The light-heartedness of the room's decoration suddenly went bland when the two people centered in it looked to be having a stare-off. Who the winner would be was obvious—the blonde appeared to be on the verge of tears while the green woman merely stood there, emotionless. And it was reasonable that the blonde woman would be this way. It isn't everyday when your best friend returns from the dead.

Liira's gaze shifted between both women. Her nervousness increased. Here were two extraordinary witches, meaning they had powerful magic on their sides, which meant that if they got into a catfight there was no way in hell that anyone in Oz would ever survive…. _Lurline help us all if that ever happens, _Liira thought. But they were old friends, right? Surely they wouldn't try to kill each other. The green girl backed herself to the wall just in case, trying to get out of their line of fire.

Glinda seemed to notice Liira. She shot the young girl a bit of a smile before focusing on her main problem, the sadness once again washing over her. "It's nice to see you again, Elphaba. Or should I call you the Wicked Witch of the West if I want the full glory of it?" she fired, yet her eyes were trying to control her anger and tears.

Her words didn't seem to faze the Witch. They never did. "I would prefer you didn't call me anything. Just the sound of your voice is making me nauseous," she replied coldly.

Liira could only see the blonde's expressions; she was now more than a little bit shocked that the Witch would say that to her. The green girl could feel her own anger escalating. How dare she talk to Glinda like that, especially after all they've been through together! The green girl was tempted to beat Elphaba over the head with her broom repeatedly, but then she realized that she was both unable to reach it (it was all the way on the other side of the room) and she was unable to actually do anything due to the pain she felt when she moved too much. So all she could do was sit this out and watch Elphaba destroy this poor woman….

Glinda suddenly strode over to the green woman, raised her hand, and slapped her across the face as hard as she could. The sound seemed to bounce off the walls. Elphaba stumbled back due to the force of the strike. She touched the place where Glinda had hit—the skin of her face was turning a nasty darker green. Her eyes shone with anger. "What the hell do you think you're—?"

"I saved you from being killed by who knows how many Gale Force soldiers only moments ago, and I get cruel remarks from you as payment?" Glinda cried, her blue eyes cutting through Elphaba's brown. Not to mention that they were just about over-flowing with tears. "The _least_ I could receive is a simple thank you or an "It's nice to see you, Glinda" or... or an explanation!"

"What is there to explain? I have done nothing wrong, _Your Goodness_."

"I thought you died!" Glinda shouted as the tears finally were released. "For two damned years I was left to suffer because I couldn't save you from death. And now you pop back into my life saying that you didn't die?"

"Glinda—"

"I almost killed myself because of you, Elphaba!"

Liira gasped, her eyes widening. She thought back to the night of the anniversary of the Witch's so-called death when she had visited Glinda. Was it possible that the blonde would have committed suicide if the green girl hadn't interfered? She didn't want to think about that. _I guess that's what losing someone you love does to some people…._

Elphaba glared at her diminutive friend. "I couldn't come even if I wanted to. The Gale Force would have spotted me and killed me like they almost killed Liira!" she shot back in her defense.

Glinda once again looked back at the green girl behind Elphaba. She then looked back at the Witch. "How do you know her?"

The Witch opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, giving Glinda a confused look. She turned around to stare at Liira. "You didn't finish the diary?" she asked her out of the blue.

The green girl startled at the sudden occurrence that she should be included into the conversation. _This is a lover's quarrel; I don't want a part in it!_ Liira wanted to yell, but she didn't. She knew that if she said that it would only make matters worse. So she shook her head. "I didn't want to intrude—"

"I appreciate your intentions to not invade my privacy," Elphaba began, "but you are far too late for that. If you are going to start something, you must finish it!"

"Then why don't you go ahead and finish your conversation with Miss Glinda?" Liira asked calmly. Her eyes widened when she saw the Witch roll her sleeves up her arms and go to lunge at her, but Glinda held her back. The green girl glowered at her. "What are you trying to do? Kill me?"

Glinda grunted as she pulled the green woman away from Liira, then she glared at the green girl in turn. "Well, you weren't exactly helping things," she said coldly. Her eyes went to the leather-bound book that rested on the nightstand. The blonde quickly went to it, picked it up, and sat down beside Liira on the bed. "Okay, we're going to finish this," she decided for the three of them. She shot a glance at the Witch. "Elphie, go get Fabala. She may need to hear this or she may never speak to me again."

Elphaba snorted as she went to the door. "Since when did I become your servant?" she mumbled before stomping out of the room.

Liira glanced over at Glinda, who was staring at the diary with narrowed eyes. She sighed. "Miss Glinda, I—"

"Don't."

The green girl was surprised at the sudden edge in the blonde's voice. She had never spoken to her like this before…. _There's a first time for everything_, she thought. Liira turned to face the ruler of Oz, concern taking over. "Miss Glinda," she began. "I'm sorry for what I said," she said despite the blonde's tone and the glare that was thrown her way when she began talking again. "I didn't mean to make things worse. Honest I didn't. If there's anything I can do—"

"Don't say another word," Glinda said, this time a little gentler. And she didn't say anything else, nor did Liira, until Elphaba came back with an equally pissed-off blonde girl.

Let the games begin.

A/N: Okay, I'm going to start a little poll, which is a cleverly disguised way to get more reviews. Ready? OK! What do you think will happen later on in the story? What do you want to happen? Don't worry, I have ideas on how to end this—I just want to get a little bit of personal feedback from you guys. Either include your answers in a review, or you can PM me. Feedback is my crack! )


	16. Chapter 15 Secret That Can't Be Kept

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Fifteen:

"_Don't say another word," Glinda said, this time a little gentler. And she didn't say anything else, nor did Liira, until Elphaba came back with an equally pissed-off blonde girl._

_Let the games begin._

They all sat in the middle of the bedroom, staring at each other and the diary set before them. It was odd, really, how there could be so much tension over a single book. Elphaba was glaring at Glinda, who was silently pleading for her daughter to understand, who was glaring at both witches with utter loathing that one could only imagine. Liira was the only one fearing for her life—sure enough one of them was going to make the house explode.

No one was willing to even touch the diary, not even its owner. It was like it was a snake about to strike at any given moment. And with every second that passed in silence, the tension began to build until, finally, it got to one of them. That person was Liira. _Pushover,_ a voice in her mind taunted, but the green girl ignored it. She glanced over at Elphaba. "I think there are better things we could do with our time than just stare at it. Why don't you go ahead and read what it says, Elphaba?" she asked mildly.

The Witch snorted. "In your dreams. I have every page memorized, seeing how _I _wrote it. Besides, I don't think it would be right for me to read it. It's against every proper thing in the world, right _Glinda_?" She said the name with such venom that it made the air in the room quiver.

Glinda merely glared at the green woman before once again settling her attention on the diary. She moved a bit closer to Liira and said, "Maybe you should do it, Liira. You're the only one who seems to be unfazed by all of this."

"Is that supposed to be a cold remark or a compliment?" Liira asked with a slight blush. In truth she was as disturbed as they all were about the contents inside the book. She just didn't have a direct reason like the others did.

The blonde drew a little closer to Liira, trying to get away from the Witch that was glaring harshly at her. "I meant that as a compliment," she replied. An arm went around her. "I mean, _someone_ has to have a good grip on things."

"Oh, stop flirting with her—you're nearly three times as old as her!" Elphaba growled from beside the blonde woman.

Glinda flushed at the comment and pulled her arm back, glaring at the Witch in turn. "Elphaba, you know that I was doing nothing of the sort!" she exclaimed. "I was just trying to help. Motivation is the key to get things started."

"And later on that thing could get us all killed."

Fabala let out a breath and drew her limbs closer to her body, acting as if the diary was poisonous. "Actually, I agree with my _dear_ mother over there," she spat. "Liira was the one who brought us all into this mess, anyway. She should be the one that settles it."

Liira fired a glare at her, then looked back at the diary. It was truly unnerving how a single book could cause so much fighting…. _Bring on another war_, she thought bitterly. The green girl sighed and, with a shaking hand, took the book off the floor. She could feel three pairs of eyes staring at her. She tried her best to ignore them. Things were hard enough already…. Liira opened it to what seemed to be a random page—it opened up directly to the place where they had left off. _The thirty-first of October…._ They had already read that. _The twenty-fourth of December…._

All of a sudden the air had gotten thinner. Or maybe it was just her imagination? The suspense began to build as she prepared to reveal whatever was written. Liira let out the breath she realized she had been holding, then took another, and she began:

"_The twenty-fourth of December, 1887."_

Elphaba groaned suddenly and covered her head with an over-stuffed pillow. That obviously wasn't a good sign. Liira went on anyway.

"_I realize that it's been almost two months since I last wrote, but I have good reasons. Work had been taking most of my time—the campaign was coming to a close and we're almost through with our mission. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking? The leader of our group didn't give us specific details, so we had just come up with our own conclusion that by killing Morrible, the Wizard's apparent adviser, we'd be almost through with our main objective._

"_Unfortunately, things never go as planned or hoped._

"_On the night that I was to kill Morrible—which I failed to do due to… certain obstacles—I found that Fiyero hadn't left. He never would, not ever again, because someone—or several someones—had tracked him down and murdered him. I am horribly upset that he was so brutally killed, but at the same time I feel relieved. I was and am still glad to know that it was not Glinda who had been killed. She means the world to me…._

"_Sometimes I wonder that she really feels the same way about me. Sure she comes over and we engage in… activities. She tells me she loves me with such truth and purity. But she's a great actress. She can fool others into believing that they are wanted and needed. How am I to know that she is or isn't telling me the truth that she loves me?_

"_Once again, I must end on a sour note. I am feeling unusually tired right now. Probably stress from all that I'm dealing with. Or was, anyway. Hopefully my luck will change for the better sometime soon._

_-Elphie_

"_P.S. I have found shelter at a place called the Church of Saint Glinda. It's peculiar, really, how there's a church named after the love of my life. And I've just now come to notice it…."_

Silence followed the entry. Liira looked over the post-script again. This was her proof. This was all she needed to know that she was right. _The Witch of the West and Sister Saint Aelphaba are one and the same…. _She looked up to see that everyone had relaxed… somewhat, that is. Fabala wasn't ridged with anger—just confusion. Elphaba was picking at an imaginary spot on the floor as she waited for the response. Glinda was still glaring heavily at the Witch. Liira couldn't blame her—if _she _had just found out that someone she cared about had their doubts, she would be down-right furious.

At least Glinda had the decency to not get carried away.

"I can't believe you would think that about me!"

_So much for decency…._

Elphaba didn't look up. She just stared at the white carpet while Glinda's anger rose to incredible and unnatural heights.

"You make me sound like I'm heartless, Elphie. You know just as well as I do that I loved you with everything I had. I _still_ do. Why do you think I haven't killed you myself when I saved your ass in Kiamo Ko?"

The Witch answered her with silence. She then looked up at Liira and asked, "Would you please read the next entry so that we can shut up Her Highness over here?"

"Oh, don't you even think that I'm going to let you off that—" Glinda screamed as a pillow hit her in the face, nearly knocking her over. Liira caught her before her head hit the floor, which earned her a mumbled "thank you" before her attention went back to the diary.

Liira took another breath. The tension was finally easing in the room. At least, to her it was—she couldn't say the same for Glinda and Elphaba. She hoped this next entry would alleviate some of the static between them, and so she obeyed the Witch's order.

"_The twenty-ninth of December, 1888."_ Liira stopped and reread the line, then shook her head in disbelief. "You didn't write in this for a whole year?" she asked Elphaba. "You were under a vow of silence; you had nothing else to do _but_ write!"

"Read the rest," Elphaba shot back with a slight edge in her voice.

And so she did:

"_A year has passed since the last time I wrote, I know. I couldn't help it, though. I had fallen into a comatose state when I first arrived and didn't awake until a few days ago. What I woke up to was a complete surprise._

"_I thought that I had taken all of the necessary steps to make sure that this never happen. But it did, so what's the use of complaining now? The maunts of the Church of Saint Glinda came to me when I first woke up and told me that—dare I say it—I had _given birth._ Fiyero should be glad that he's dead because I would've killed him then if he wasn't. And the bad news was that I bore _twins!_ I had no idea!_

"_The first was the boy, I was told. Just by looking at him I could see that he was going to be just like his father was at Shiz: Clueless and immature. The second, however, was a girl. I found it strange that they didn't really look alike at all. The boy had Fiyero's brown hair and consistently blue eyes, as well as his structure. But the girl didn't look a thing like Fiyero—it was like in the womb she had refused to take his genes. Instead she took someone else's other than mine._

"_Her eyes are crystal blue that flash a vivid green whenever she is angered, which is often since the others always mess with her. She has dark hair, like I do, though she isn't green, which is a slight disappointment. But the girl clearly makes up for it by acting like I did—sticking to herself and not bothering anyone. She looks nothing like her brother. In place of his clumsiness, she has grace and a sense of intelligence of someone older than herself. In other words, she knows subconsciously what is wrong and what is right. The other maunts are quite taken with her, as am I. Why wouldn't I be? I'm her mother, after all._

"_It was a good thing the people in charge of taking care of them while I was still comatose hadn't named them. I would have killed them if they had. I named the girl after a name Glinda liked since she seemed to be like her in a way. I wonder if magic somehow made this happen…. And since I had no care for the boy, I gave the maunts the task of coming up with a name for him. Unfortunately, they took my daughter's name and changed it so that it would fit him as well._

"_I should stop writing about now. Oddly enough I still feel a bit tired. If there is an Unnamed God, then I pray that he watch over my daughter, Liira (he can forget about Liir if he wants, seeing as I already have)._

_-Sister Saint Aelphaba"_


	17. Chapter 16: The Daughter of Goodness

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Sixteen:

"_If there is an Unnamed God, then I pray that he watch over my daughter, Liira (he can forget about Liir if he wants, seeing as I already have)._

_-Sister Saint Aelphaba"_

A collective gasp was drawn by the two blondes in the room—it was apparent that Fabala had inherited her mother's sense of drama. Then silence settled into the room as gazes were shifted from one green witch to the other. Who was going to speak first: the oldest or the youngest? Or would they ever speak? Elphaba was known for keeping silences silent for what could be an eternity. Now that Liira was revealed to be her daughter, it was probable that she could have that same ability.

The diary wasn't shut—Pandora's box had already been open, and it was impossible for it to be sealed again now. Instead Liira stared at it, her eyes grazing over the words. She wished that the words would be like the letters in the Grimmerie. She wished that they would split apart and reform to become completely different words and sentences. She needed something else. _Anything but this._

But they wouldn't comply with her demands. They remained the same as they had been for sixteen years.

_This can't be right! I'm not a real Witch!_

Liira suddenly felt a gentle hand cover her own, and she let out the breath she realized she had been holding. Her blue eyes shifted over to the hand, then went to meet the soft blue gaze of Glinda the Good. The green girl looked at Elphaba, who had drawn her legs up to her chest and was fidgeting with her own emerald hands. She looked nervous, like someone afraid of being rejected. _This is a first._

"Liira?" the blonde asked softly beside her. She smiled only when Liira looked at her again. "I understand that this is a bit of a shock… actually, it may be more of a nightmare." She ducked instinctively as another pillow was thrown in her direction, ending up flying over her head—the diamond tiara-like ornament was knocked off in turn, then abandoned. "But you have to understand that you aren't alone in this. I'm sure that everyone else—besides Elphaba—is surprised about this."

The green girl looked past the blonde and saw Elphaba staring at her intently, warily. And not only at Liira, but at Glinda as well. There was more to this, she realized.

"Elphie," Glinda continued—she seemed to be fighting tears now—"may I please speak to you in private? Just for a moment?" she pleaded. Before she received an answer, the blonde stood and walked out of the room.

Liira watched Elphaba breathe out a sigh, then she followed her blonde companion out the door, closing it behind her. Silence once again settled upon the remaining inhabitants of the room. The information that had just been spoken—the horrible revelation of Liira's connection to the Witches of the North and the West—was now stabbing her repeatedly in the stomach. Why hadn't she seen it all before? Why did it have to be between Elphaba and _Glinda?_

Liira glanced over at Fabala, who was calmly playing with a lock of her long, golden hair. Blonde…. That color was beginning to make her feel sick. Of course, Fabala chose now to speak. "Well, I guess that makes us sisters, then," she said like it was an everyday thing.

The green girl wanted to jump up and strike her somehow. She was mocking her, wasn't she? Liira looked away, glaring at the diary like it was the Kumbric Witch herself. _You did this to me,_ she thought as she imagined the book bursting to flames.

"'Course, I wouldn't really mind having someone like you as a sister. It could be fun," the girl said slowly, as if contemplating the words she had just spoken. Then she nodded to herself, finally deciding on the idea as a good one.

Blue eyes caught brown instantly. How could Fabala think that? Liira stared at her for the longest time, trying to detect a trace of a lie in the blonde's eyes. No such sign came to her. All she saw was peace and serenity and sincerity. The green girl sighed. Damn these people to hell…. "Why do you think that?" she asked. Just in case, she had her hand poised discreetly to grab her broom and attack.

Fabala smiled at her. "Well think about it! You're the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West, the most feared person in all of Oz! From what I heard from my mother, she was the most brilliant and warm-hearted woman alive, though everyone treated her with contempt and hatred. You're a legend that no one knows of. It seems amazing to me to be related to such a person," she said.

"Aren't you upset that your own mother loved the Witch?"

The blonde shrugged. "I was, but now I guess I accept it. I mean, if she was happy with her then I agree with it." She frowned. "What I don't get is that my mom was like the both of us—she didn't know about us. So how were we created?" Fabala smiled at Liira's flustered expression and she concluded with, "Magic works in mysterious ways, I suppose."

Liira didn't say anything. She avoided her new sister's gaze and busied herself with the hem of her black dress. It kind of disturbed her knowing that she was the result of magic. Why couldn't she be normal for once? She barely had a family to begin with, she was tossed out of the mauntery she had been staying at due to her differences, she now had not one but _two_ mothers, she had a sister that she never knew of, and she wasn't even born right. Oh, the Kumbric Witch must _love _her right now….

"May I ask you a question, Liira?"

She sighed. Did this girl ever shut up? Liira looked over at Fabala, who went back to playing with her hair. "Yeah, I guess," she replied.

The blonde finally looked back at her and dropped the strands of hair she had been messing with. Her attention went to Liira entirely. "Did you even know that Elphaba was your mother?" she asked.

Liira opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, and closed it. Sarcasm wasn't going to get her out of this, and neither was a harsh comment, no matter how much she didn't like this girl. Not when it was an honest question. It was one she was wondering herself, so she might as well just answer it. "No, not really," the green girl said.

"But you two look so much alike with the same hair and the same color skin. Not to mention the similar personalities. How could you not have known?"

"Because I wasn't born this way," Liira spat. Her blue eyes hardened into cold sapphires, cutting straight into amber. "This green skin is nothing but a curse to me. I wasn't born like this—I was just like everyone else until eight years ago."

Fabala's gaze didn't waver. She stared straight at the green girl, fighting her back fire with water. "How is that possible?" she asked finally.

Liira sighed and looked away. "I don't know."

"Could you tell me what you do know?" The blonde moved closer to her sister, just not too close as to not disturb her. She smiled. "I want to know more about you. Is it okay if we talk?"

The green girl looked back at her in surprise. This was different. Most of her life she had been facing people who didn't give a damn about her. Now she was dealing with two totally different people who not only had a connection with the same person she did, but were also interested in what she had to say. Though she wasn't completely comfortable with it, she felt that the least she could do was comply to her request. "Sure," she said cautiously. "What would you like to know?"

"Just the basics. Like where you lived, how life was, how you knew Elphaba exactly, so on and so forth." Fabala made it sound like she was only mildly interested, and her facial features supported her tone. But her eyes told a completely different story.

Liira found herself loosening up around her, just like she had when she first met Glinda. Why was it that these people made her feel so comfortable in ways others couldn't? The green girl paused for a moment to think, then she nodded to herself when she finally decided on where to start. "Okay, I was born and raised in the Cloister of Saint Glinda on the outskirts of the Emerald City. Sister Saint Aelphaba was the one who really paid attention to me, and I considered her my mother then."

Fabala nodded in understanding. "And she was Elphaba, right?" she asked.

"Exactly. By the time I was four years of age, _I _was placed to take care of _her _and fill _her_ needs. They said that she had gone into a mental decline due to stress and so she couldn't talk, not that she talked much anyway. And to be honest I enjoyed taking care of her. But they were wrong about her not being able to talk. She spoke to me every night, filling me in on bits and pieces of her past. It was like she _had_ to get that stuff out of her system or else she may die, and I was the only one she could talk to."

"So she relied on you…. Did she tell you anything interesting?"

The green girl smiled. "She wouldn't stay quiet about Miss Glinda," she admitted. "This went on for a good four years. Finally on Lurlinemas Eve—my eighth birthday—I went to her right before I went to bed for the night, just to be beside her. She was reading by the fireplace, which was usual for her while the others spent the holiday singing and praying to the Saint Glinda and the Fairy Queen Lurline. She finally admitted that I looked just like a girl she once knew—Miss Galinda. I realize now that it was your mother's old name." She sighed. "And that was the last time I ever saw her."

"What happened?" Fabala asked.

"She left the next morning for the Vinkus with my supposed brother, Liir. She didn't even say good-bye." She paused before saying, "A few days later I was run out of the mauntery. I proved to be a curse to them, they said. I reminded them too much of that damned Sister Aelphaba. The fact that I was slowly turning green didn't help things either."

The blonde's brown eyes widened only momentarily in her shock before they went back to normal, gazing at the green girl like nothing had been said. "So… where'd you go after that?" she asked, interested.

"There was this flat in the warehouse district of the Emerald City that I found. It wasn't really that great, but at least I didn't have to pay for anything. All there was in the small apartment was a kitchen area, a bed, a small divan in the middle of the room to serve as a living area, and—best of all—no water. I fell in love with it immediately. Although the bloodstain at the front entrance did bother me a bit…."

Liira sighed, then went back to studying her dress again. "Eight years after that, I find myself pulling pranks on random people—serves them right for treating me the wrong way. I accidentally fell out the window finally one day last week. Landed right in the middle of your mother's acceptance ceremony for the position as the ruler of Oz. And so that's how my world turned upside down."

Fabala nodded slowly as she took all of this in. Finally, to break the silence, she spoke. "I can remember when the Witch of the West had died. I was only fourteen—not a very mature age, mind you, but then again people always said that I act beyond my years. I remember my mom crying, saying that she was the one that should have died. I couldn't have understood then, but… now I do." She paused. "The next day my father—or I think he was my father; Elphaba's my other parent, right? Anyway, the following afternoon my father died of a heart attack. And then that night I caught a disease of some kind. She once again blamed these things on herself. It was a little too much for her; she finally broke down.

"I recovered a few days later, and she wouldn't so much as look at me for a few more afterward. At last she had explained that she didn't want to lose her all over again—I was so much like Elphaba in my own way that it scared her. A month later, the citizens of Oz were begging Glinda the Good to come back around and take off where the Wizard had left them. She refused, of course, saying that she wouldn't even if the sky turned to fire and burned the world to ashes. They pressured her for the next two years until she finally gave in."

Liira frowned. "And why are you telling me all of this?" she asked.

Fabala smiled at her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently. "Well, you practically told me everything there was about you, so I thought I should do the same. Besides, I'm like my mother—I just won't shut up once I get started on something," she replied.

A glass shattered against the door suddenly, alerting both girls. That was then followed by a rather harsh curse. Shouting could be heard soon after that, the owner of the voice sounding like she was on the verge of tears. A door slammed, and then there was silence. Fabala looked over at Liira before she stood up and went to the door. The green girl followed her, curious as to what was going on.

They opened the door, careful not to disturb anyone who might be on the other side. Fragments of glass littered the floor, but nothing else. They could hear crying behind the door closing off Glinda's bedroom. A curse could be heard somewhere down the hall. The only thing the girls saw was a green and black blur heading for the stairs. And it seemed the same thought coursed through their brains and worried them, no matter how obvious it was:

Something was not right.


	18. Chapter 17 Her Death Was A Rebirth

The Witch of the Emerald City  
Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Seventeen:

_Something was not right._

Liira sighed. She might as well get used to this—this was as close to normal as she was ever going to get. She turned to Fabala, who was staring at the door in concern. "Fabala," she said, making the blonde jump. "Fabala, you check on Miss Glinda. I'll see to Elphaba."

Fabala finally looked to her, her face etched with worry. "Are you sure you can handle it? It sounded pretty bad…."

"I've lived with Elphaba half of my life. I think I can handle it." She smiled. "Besides, I'm her daughter: The Witch of the Emerald City. We Witches have to stick together." Without another word, Liira bolted toward the stairwell. She could see someone dressed in black nearing the end; there was no doubt that it was her. The green girl went down two at a time in an attempt to catch up.

The green woman went down the hall toward the front entrance, then took a left toward the library located on the bottom floor. Liira stopped for a moment before running after her. She thought about calling out to the Witch, but thought better of it. One thing she had learned in the mauntery was that Sister Aelphaba had selective hearing. Most likely Elphaba would just ignore her. _Then how the hell am I going to talk to her?_ Liira suddenly saw the green woman disappear behind a door; the sound of it closing echoed throughout the hall.

Liira went to it and stared at it for a moment, thinking it would either vanish or burn down so that she could get inside. But, since that was not the case, she relied on knocking. The green girl shook her head before she even managed to touch the door. To hell with the knocking—Elphaba would just ignore that as well. The green girl cleared her throat. "Miss Elphaba?" she called. Always go with the honorifics first….

"What the hell do you want?"

Liira started a bit upon hearing the Witch's voice. It wasn't as cold as she would have thought it would have been. She sounded hurt, upset.

_Well of course she's upset! She got into a fight with someone she loves!_

The emerald girl tried again. "Elphaba, may I talk to you? Please?" she asked.

There was a pause before the door opened. Liira didn't get a chance to look at the Witch of the West—she had already turned away and was walking toward the table. "Sit down and start talking. Go ahead and yell at me if you'd like. But if you lapse into silence I'll have you thrown out. Are we clear?" she said.

Liira nodded. "Completely."

"Good." The Witch sat down finally in one of the chairs and let out a breath. There was a short moment of silence before, "I bet you're going to tell me how horrible a mother I am for leaving with you with that pathetic lot. I'm sorry, Liira. I just…. I couldn't go through the pain again. You remind me so much of her that it nearly drove me insane. And I had to bring Liir to throw him out at Kiamo Ko, but I kind of got stuck there…."

Liira nodded again. Her eyes fixed on the green witch, who was staring at the Grimmerie, seemingly lost in thought. She decided to ask now. "What happened just now between you and Glinda? What could you have possibly got into a fight about with her?" she inquired.

Elphaba snorted. "More things than you'll ever know. Take my advice, girl: Never fall in love, no matter how wonderful you think they are." She hesitated before sitting back in the chair. "She was the one who flew off the handle this time. Glinda started yelling at me about my so-called death. She wouldn't let me get a word in edge-wise…. She probably never will, she's so mad at me. And it's all because I left her all those years ago." The Witch frowned. "That girl needs to learn to let go of the past. That's why she's been so torn up lately."

"May I ask you what happened two years ago?" Liira asked. She saw Elphaba turn away from her, shaking her head. Anger suddenly began to rise within her. How could she be like this? This was information she desperately needed, even if she did hate the Witch for leaving her behind eight years ago. She couldn't keep this from her!

Suddenly an idea came in her mind. It was something she couldn't shake off even if she wanted to. Besides, it worked before, it can work again. Liira walked toward her, making sure that she was within Elphaba's line of sight. "Elphaba, maybe I can help. Glinda will listen to me, I know it. If you tell me the details of your death, I could relay it to her for you. We all win here!"

The Witch narrowed her eyes at the green girl. "What's in it for you?" she asked in suspicion. "There's a catch here; I can tell."

"There's no catch. I promise you that." When she didn't get a convinced look from her, Liira added, "Have I ever let you down before?"

"Fine! Damn it, you're just _like_ her…." Elphaba pointed to the chair in front of her, which Liira took without another word being spoken. It was better not to anger her more than she was already. "Do you know anything about that night?"

Liira nodded, and sat up a bit straighter. "Yeah. There was a girl named Dorothy and a group of outcasts who were sent by the Wizard of Oz to kill you. It was something to do with wishes, I think. Dorothy wanted a home, the Tin Woodsman wanted a heart, the Scarecrow wanted a brain—or knowledge, whichever—and the Lion wanted courage."

"And the Wizard did all that, but he couldn't free the Animals for me two decades ago. That bastard…." She sighed and said, "Sorry. Go on."

"Anyway, you kidnapped that girl and her dog—kudos for you—and you threatened to kill her for your sister's shoes. Unfortunately, that all ended rather badly when Dorothy threw that bucket of water at you. You melted, you died, and everyone was off in celebration for the act of violence that had finally wiped you off the face of the earth…. Glinda, though, was torn up about it. She didn't let us know, but she did take her precious time on agreeing to become the ruler of Oz. Two years, in fact."

"Two years!" the green woman cried, her eyes wide in surprise. "She was that upset?"

Liira frowned. "Well, of course. She loved you more than anything. Then you had to go and get yourself killed. You should have seen her a week ago, on the anniversary of your death. She was _crying_, thinking that _she_ should have been the one to die! She wasn't just upset—she was going _insane_ because of what happened to you!" She paused and shook her head. "I can understand why she's so pissed off with you. You've been alive all this time and you never let her know. Glinda could have killed herself and it would have been for nothing."

There was a long moment of pressing silence that made the air in the room stiffen. Liira thought of saying something. After all, Elphaba _did_ say she wanted no silence whatsoever. But what was there to say? The green girl looked over at the large leather tome sitting in front of the green woman and wondered if she should ask about it. The Grimmerie was obviously something the Witch was interested in. Before she could utter a single word, however, the Witch spoke. "That's not what happened," she said simply.

Liira was thrown back by the comment. "Excuse me?" How could that not be what happened? Dorothy went to the Wizard himself and told everyone in Oz what had occurred in the Vinkus. It had to be true! _Except the dying part, apparently,_ she thought.

"That story. Only a few details of it were true. I can't believe they lied about it…." Elphaba smiled a little to herself. "Typical people, always spreading lies. I should have known it would always be the same."

The green girl raised an eyebrow at her. "Mind explaining, then?" she asked.

"Actually, I _do_ mind. But I guess I have no choice about it. If you're anything like Glinda—any more than you are already—you'd pester me about it until I finally cracked." The Witch shifted in her chair so that she was sitting straight now, her hands clasped in her lap. She stared at the green girl, who was sitting forward, interested in whatever she had to say. It was a bit disturbing…. Elphaba sighed. "Okay, Little Miss Country-side did come with a group of cowards to kill me—that part is true. After I 'captured' her, though, the citizens of Oz joined in and formed a group called the Witch Hunters. I'm surprised you didn't know about them, Liira. Or maybe you did. If you saw that everyone was missing on your block, now you know where they went."

Liira nodded. "Go on," she urged.

"When I found out about them, I flew into a panic. I mean, you would too if there were thousands of people plus some coming to murder you." The Witch stood up and started pacing now. It was obvious that she always did this when under stress. "Then Glinda came right when I was about ready to give up. I tried telling her to leave—she didn't need to get caught up in the mess I made. But she's so damned persistent! Finally I just gave her the Grimmerie and told her not to clear my name; I didn't want them to kill her as well.

"She agreed, but she wouldn't leave, so I had to hide her from them." She took a steadying breath before she continued. "At that moment the Witch Hunters broke through with Dorothy and her band of misfits following behind. That girl was holding a bucket of water. I can only imagine how they knew." Elphaba paused and asked, "Have you ever been burned by water, Liira?"

Liira shuddered. "'Course I have. It's horrible," she replied.

Elphaba nodded. "Imagine being completely doused by it. Actually, I'd rather you didn't. It hurts like hell—a pain rips through your entire body, inside and out. After Dorothy threw the liquid, I was suddenly lost in a sea of black. I think that's what Death looks like…." She shook her head and shuddered. "I can still feel it after all this time."

"Wait a minute. You really _died?_" Liira exclaimed. She didn't give the Witch time to answer—she knew it was going to be something sarcastic. "If you were killed then how the hell are you _here?_ Someone must be lying. Was there a trapdoor? Of course there was; you don't look like a ghost. I would say that you don't feel like one, but I don't think I could bring myself to touch you right now—"

"Liira!" the Witch shouted, shutting the green girl up. Liira looked up at her, then wished she hadn't. Elphaba's eyes were consumed with anger, frustration, and… sadness? An urgency of some sort to get her to understand was also visible in those dark irises. But understand what? "If you'd just listen to me! Glinda did the same thing; I thought you'd be different, more accepting."

Liira sank back in her chair, fear suddenly taking over her. She didn't say anything. She _couldn't_ say anything, for there was nothing.

"I did die. I was completely destroyed. I don't understand how I could have possibly been brought back to life! But I was. The next thing I know, I'm staring at the ceiling of Kiamo Ko, unable to move. Chistery took care of me while I recovered—that took about a year, and even then I could still feel pain. I have reason to believe that it was the power of the Grimmerie that revived me." She sighed and sat back down. "But what's the point? What's the point of living when there's nothing left?"

The green girl opened her mouth to reply, but then the sound of glass breaking and a terrified scream sounded from upstairs. Both Witches leapt up and ran to the library door. Liira reached out to open it…. But then Elphaba yanked her back. She glared at the Witch. "What the hell are you—" Her voice was muffled as a hand covered her mouth.

"Shush!" the Witch of the West hissed. She pulled the girl away from the door while Liira tried to break free from her hold. But then the girl stopped struggling when she heard the pounding in the halls—army boots marching through. And at the sound of a stifled scream on the other side, Liira began squirming again. "Liira, stop. They'll hear you!"

Liira fought her. She had to get to the door; she didn't care who saw her. _Why won't she let me go?_ Liira asked herself. Then she realized that this was the Wicked Witch of the West she was dealing with. She was no longer Sister Aelphaba from the Church of Saint Glinda. All other identities had been cast aside, leaving nothing but a selfish, heartless human being that had been renamed 'Wicked' all those years ago. _And she is…._

Eventually the pounding faded away, going to the grounds outside before disappearing altogether. Finally the green girl was released. Without a word she burst out of the library and bolted up the stairs—Liira could hear the Witch hurrying behind her, calling her name.

On the second floor, only one door was thrown open. Liira ran into the room, but skidded to a stop after she saw its condition. She felt herself freeze. The only part of her that moved were her eyes, darting everywhere as she took in everything, from the shattered mirror to the overturned furniture. Her blue eyes suddenly caught a form lying on the ground and curled into a little ball. The form was shaking violently, crying. "Glinda?" she asked as she kneeled down beside her.

At that moment, Elphaba entered the room. She gasped when she saw the blonde, and she immediately dropped down next to her. The Witch took her into her arms—Glinda automatically clung to her. "Glinda. Glinda, what's wrong?" she asked gently as she held her.

The blonde didn't answer. She just sobbed into Elphaba's chest, trying to seek comfort in her arms. Liira saw that that Witch seemed to have this under control, so she stood and started walking around the room. It was obvious that it was the Gale Force who had broken in. She'd know that sound anywhere. _How could we not have heard them enter?_ the girl wondered. And worst of all, why had they come?

Her eyes suddenly caught a scarf lying on the ground nearby, barely visible around the wreckage of the room. It looked oddly familiar…. The girl turned to Glinda and Elphaba, fear shining brightly in her eyes as she realized that something important was missing from the room. "She's gone," she said. When she saw the blank looks in their eyes, she stated, "Those bastards took Fabala."


	19. Chapter 18 It Wasn't A Lie

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Eighteen:

"_She's gone," she said. When she saw the blank looks in their eyes, she stated, "Those bastards took Fabala."_

Liira watched as panic registered on Elphaba's face—finally, some real emotion—but then she calmed before it got too out of hand. The green woman held Glinda closer to her in comfort. "Why would they do that? She has nothing to do with any of this," she said.

"Your guess is as good as mine." The green girl looked over at Glinda for a moment, then looked away. The most understandable reason was a rebellion—people were prone to do that. But against Glinda the Good? She was the ruler of Oz, the best thing that ever happened to them since the Ozma reign ended. _People can change; you know that more than anything,_ a voice in her mind snapped. Liira sighed. "Well, she's the closest and only member of Glinda's family still alive. Do you think they're trying to lead some kind of revolt against the Palace?" she asked aloud. She paused as another thought entered her mind. "Maybe it's a pagan ritual to bring back the last Ozma—blood for blood."

"You're not _helping_, Liira!" Elphaba growled as the blonde cried even more. She tried pushing her away, but she only held tighter. The Witch sighed and beckoned the green girl over. "Could you please take her while I move around a bit? You're making me paranoid."

Liira took one look at Glinda and shook her head.

"And why not?"

"I'm not you."

Elphaba sighed again, this time a little heavier. She stood up, taking the blonde with her, and practically threw her into Liira's arms. The girl stumbled back a bit at the sudden weight, but as there was no other choice, she held onto Glinda. Just not the way the Witch had done; it was too uncomfortable for her to hold a woman twice her age…. She watched Elphaba as she paced, muttering to herself as she did. Liira was relieved to hear that some of the blonde's crying had lessened until she was just sniffling now. Maybe she _could_ make the difference.

Finally the Witch stopped, shook her head, and restarted. They were obviously getting nowhere with this. Of course, it didn't really make much sense. The Gale Force was under Palace rule, which was left in Glinda's possession since she accepted the role as the country's leader just a week ago. It was impossible for them to start a rebellion unless she did something really awful, like help a criminal or….

_Oh no._

Elphaba suddenly turned around sharply to face the other two. Apparently she has been thinking along the same lines as Liira. This wasn't good. She took one look at Glinda and she said, "So this is really your fault."

"Oh really, Elphaba, now _you're _not helping," Glinda choked out as she struggled not to cry. "But how is any of this my—?"

"Because you saved mine and Liira's lives back in the Vinkus. While we're thankful for you doing that, Miss Popular, the Gale Force became confused, then pissed off. And now they've taken Fabala since you wouldn't hand us over, and if they don't get us then sooner or later they'll kill your daughter. All of this leads back to what you did wrong, Glinda. _Think_ next time!" she shouted at her.

"Oh, so now I'm the bad one? The one that does everything wrong?" the blonde shot back. "You can't even _die_ right! And now you're telling me how I should have done things?"

"No, I'm telling you to use that brain of yours at least once in a lifetime. I know you've got one. Think about others for once!"

"I was! I was thinking about you and Liira. I had no idea this would happen to…." She couldn't say the name. Glinda then waved Elphaba off and walked out of the room, leaving the two Witches behind.

Liira watched the blonde leave, then turned back to look at Elphaba, who was busy swearing under her breath. Was this what it's like to witness your parents fighting? She sighed. The green girl turned around and went to follow the Witch of the North when she was suddenly turned around. Seriously, she _had_ to stop doing that…. Liira glared at her. "Yes, Miss Ozma?" she asked before she could stop herself. But she didn't take it back—the Witch deserved it.

Elphaba looked taken aback for a moment, then calmed considerably. There was still anger burning brightly in her eyes. "Where do you think _you're_ going?" she growled.

"I thought I'd take up your spot in consoling her. You're supposed to help her through this crisis, not make her bleed about it!" Liira looked at her dead in the eye and said, "I used to believe you were a decent person, Miss Elphaba. But now I'm witnessing your true colors, and I'm willing to take that back."

"I _am_ a decent person. I just can't understand her anymore!"

Liira turned around and walked out the door. _People can change…._ She waved that thought from her mind. Elphaba _had _changed. And she couldn't go back, no matter how much Liira wanted her to. She was now ashamed of having her as a mother. Glinda seemed a much better person. _She hasn't even done a single thing wrong,_ she thought. _Elphaba was wrong for treating her like that._

She found the blonde sitting outside on the East porch a few minutes later. The sun was setting—a perfect reminder of what had occurred. Liira paused outside of the glass doors, wondering if she should go out. She'd never dealt with people before. Not normal ones, anyway. How was she supposed to help the blonde when she didn't understand human emotions all that well? The green girl sighed and eased the doors open gently. She was just going to have to try.

Liira closed the doors as quietly as she could, then sat down beside the Good Witch. Glinda didn't even move. She just sat there, her hands clasped in her lap, her head down, her eyes staring down at the ground. If she wasn't so messed up she would be considered pretty, maybe even beautiful. Now she was broken. The only cure for that was the return of her daughter, but that seemed to be impossible right now.

There was a long period of silence before Glinda finally spoke. "She's right."

Liira didn't say anything. Best let it out than to keep it in, no matter how much it hurts.

"Elphaba was right, she always is. I should be a little more responsible as to what I do and don't do. But you have to understand that I had no idea that they were going to come here. I didn't know that they were going to take her from me… or that it would hurt this much." She dried a stray tear with a handkerchief and sniffed. "I don't know what to do. Elphaba always did, but now I think she hates me too much to give me another chance."

The green girl acted on impulse and wrapped an arm around her. She felt Glinda completely dissolve into the embrace, but she didn't cry. She knew what damage her tears would cause. Liira could sense that something else was bothering her as well. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about? Is there something else that worries you?" she asked.

Glinda smiled a little, bringing out a sudden light in her eyes that had gone missing since the last entry in the diary. "How old are you again?"

"I'll be seventeen this Lurlinemas Eve."

"You sound so mature for your age. Usually real concern for others doesn't show up until about mid-twenties. Apparently for _some_ people it's later." Glinda sighed, her smile disappearing. She messed with the skirt of her dress, playing with the fabric in her hands. Finally, she said, "Sometimes I wish that Elphaba wouldn't lie to me. First she says we'll be together, next thing I know she's gone and left me. She told me she loved me—now I find that she's been having an affair with my old boyfriend. Then she told me she had to die, and she left me with everything…." She shook her head. "Maybe that's all my life has been. Maybe I did do something wrong. Maybe it was me and not her…. But still, she _lied_ to me!"

Liira found herself shaking her head. She lifted the blonde's chin up so that she could look at her. "None of it was your fault, Miss Glinda," she said in a tone of sincerity that she didn't think was possible. "She made those mistakes. Elphaba loved you dearly—I think she still does—but maybe the reason she went off on her own was because she couldn't. You're too good for her. And she didn't lie about her death. Not really, anyway."

"She didn't?" the blonde asked. "But I saw…. There must have been a trapdoor or something! How could she have lived?"

"It's a long story. Elphaba couldn't tell you because you would have bashed her face in at the time with a vase before she could say anything—"

"Hey, I was furious. You can't blame me for keeping all of that in after doing so for twenty years!_"_

"And I wasn't. There's nothing to blame. Also, she figured that you would have listened to me better than her, so she gave me permission to do so."

Glinda froze for a moment, then nodded. "Well, she seems to know everything, doesn't she?" she said to herself. Her focus went back to Liira, who was now looking around the grounds. "Okay, so which one is easier to follow—the long story or the short one, if there is one?"

Liira sighed. "I don't know the long one all that well, so I'll shorten it," she decided. She moved so that she was facing the blonde completely, sitting cross-legged on the bench. "Hear me out on this one. What you saw was what happened; Elphaba was doused with a bucket of water, she melted… she was dead to the rest of Oz. But somehow, probably by magic, she was brought back to life. She thinks it was the power of the Grimmerie that resurrected her. Elphaba spent a year recovering from her injuries—"

"Why didn't she come back to me when she finally did recover? She could have at least come back and let me know she was alive and I would have been able to live again. I've tried to kill myself these past two years because of her!"

"So I saw. But would you have reacted any differently from what you did a while ago?" Liira asked.

The blonde opened her mouth to retaliate, closed it when nothing came out, then looked away from the green girl, biting her lip. "I guess I overreacted," she admitted. "Maybe I should go apologize."

Liira put a hand on Glinda's arm, making the woman look up at her. She smiled. "Actually, I think she deserved it. You can't always be nice to people—sometimes you have to beat the crap out of the ones you love most. She can consider it a 'Welcome Back to Reality' gift."

Glinda smiled back at her. "You seem to always know what to say." She leaned over and kissed Liira on the cheek. The blonde stood up and smoothed out her dress while Liira got up as well. She then took the green girl's arm—it was strange how Liira now felt so comfortable about it. They walked back inside in silence, the sun already disappearing beyond the horizon. The only thing that broke that silence was the sound of books hitting the ground and a loud curse. Unmistakably Elphaba.

Liira hurried to the library and opened the door. Sitting on the ground in the middle of a pile of books—some of which were thrown to the side and deemed useless—was the Witch of the West. She looked up with a glare at them. "Well I hope you two are finished talking the day away like a couple of girls. If we're going to save Fabala, we have to act now!"


	20. Chapter 19 Research and Decisions

The Witch of the Emerald City  
Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Nineteen:

"_If we're going to save Fabala, we have to act now!"_

Glinda crossed her arms, glaring down at the green woman. "And just what do you think you're accomplishing by destroying my library, Elphaba?" she asked.

Elphaba didn't answer her. She just went back to flipping through the pages of her next selection before tossing that one aside, reaching for another one blindly. Liira glanced over at Glinda, who was quietly fuming, waiting for an answer that might never come. Her gaze went back to the Witch in disbelief. Just when she had gotten through to one of them, the other one had to go and cause yet another disagreement. _And I'll be left to pick sides,_ she thought. _What a mess my life has become…._

Liira sighed and kneeled down before the small mound of books. She couldn't see how any of this could possibly help rescue Fabala. What they needed were spells and magic, something the Grimmerie would be useful for. But these were all maps and diagrams, texts on the most complex structures in Oz. From Southstairs to even the castle in Kiamo Ko, and maybe even—

She stopped and looked up at Elphaba, who was still furiously reading. Unable to get her attention, she glanced at Glinda, who was just flat-out furious. She was better than nothing, Liira supposed. "Glinda, look," she said, holding up the tome. The green girl watched as the blonde's expression switched from anger to interest in a flash. Shocked sapphire eyes met equally astonished blue after a moment of trying to figure out the chaos. Liira then turned to Elphaba and asked, "Why are we looking up the Emerald Palace?"

"It's just a hunch," the Witch began, "but I think that's where they took Fabala."

"Why would they do that, though?" Liira asked. She then looked over at Glinda, who flushed. "Glinda—"

"Don't look at me that way, Liira. I've only lived there for a week! Do you expect me to know that place inside and out?" the blonde cried. "I don't even know where the damned kitchens are!"

Elphaba snorted and went back to her book. She then closed it and tossed it toward her former lover, who almost dropped it in surprise. "Well, now that I've hooked your interest, I'm not going to let you leave until we figure this out," she said.

Glinda dropped down beside Liira, her blue eyes once again narrowed. "Why are you even doing this? You don't even know my daughter."

"It's the least I can do to pay you back," Elphaba replied without even looking up. "You saved my life, and I appreciate what you did even though it sounded like I did not. Saving your daughter seems to be the least I can do."

"And the most you can do?"

The Witch's head shot up finally. She looked Glinda dead in the eye, her own eyes burning with a fire and an intensity that Liira had never before witnessed. With a calm but firm voice, Elphaba said, "I'd gladly die again if I fail to bring her back to you. I've failed you so many times, my sweet—I do not want to see you hurt again."

There was another silence that passed between them. Glinda finally picked up one of the remaining books—_The History of the Emeralds—_ and began to look into it. Liira breathed out, smiling to herself. There wasn't going to be a fight; that would be left until tomorrow when they went to retrieve Fabala. She found it strange how she could suddenly feel so protective of someone she barely knew. Maybe that was a part of being in a family.

_Family._ That word startled the green girl. She had never been part of a family before, not even in the congregation of maunts, who treated each other as sisters even if they didn't want to. How could she possibly know what it felt like if this was the first time she felt like this?

Liira turned the page of the book in her hands, but she couldn't concentrate on the words. All she could think of was Fabala. As she ran a hand down the diagram of the Emerald Palace, she willed the Unnamed God, Lurline, anyone who would listen, that the blonde would be safe.

-( )-

The book hit the floor with a thud, making the green girl and the blonde jump in surprise. When they looked up from their books, Elphaba was grinning at them. "Did I scare you?" she asked.

Glinda only glowered at her while Liira nodded.

"Good. I'm glad I have your attention."

"You didn't have to give us heart attacks, Elphie. Couldn't you have just got our attention by saying something?" the blonde asked.

The Witch grinned even wider at the blonde. "I love seeing your reaction to things. You look so cute that way." She ignored Glinda's slight blush and looked back to Liira. "I think I've found something. It's the only thing that fits."

Liira felt Glinda grab one of her hands and squeeze it lightly. She looked over at the blonde and saw that she was leaning in a bit like doing so would help make her hear better. The green girl rolled her eyes. Why must she always be so grabby?

"The Emerald Palace was the previous residence of our Wizard. The guards of the Gale Force still linger there, am I correct?"

"Yes, and they will _not_ leave me alone," Glinda muttered under her breath. She cleared her throat and asked, "So you have proof that they have my daughter there?"

Elphaba nodded, though her eyes lowered when the blonde said 'my daughter'. "I've found a map of the inside of the Palace. There seems to be a secret exit in the back." The Witch picked up a book different from the one she had slammed down on the floor and began flipping through until she came upon the desired page. She showed it to both females.

The blonde took one look at the map and sucked in a gasp. She grabbed the book, looking from it to Elphaba and back again. "It's a shortcut to Southstairs," she said at last, her voice cool and emotionless. Even Liira shivered at the sound of it. "So they're planning on taking her there if it's too late?"

"Her or us," Elphaba replied as she set the book to the side. "They're wanting a switch, I'm guessing. You turn the two Witches in to get Fabala back, or you don't get her back at all. They don't care how it goes—just as long as they can throw someone in prison."

"So what do we do?" Liira asked. "I sure as hell don't want to go to prison. But I don't want Fabala to go either. What should we do?"

The Witch suddenly smiled again. "We take her out by force."

"How are we supposed to do that?" the green girl cried.

Glinda was biting her lip again as she thought. Elphaba wasn't helping with this one, obviously. Let them figure it out, then come up with a plan. Suddenly the blonde said, "I don't know much, but I could try a little bit of my magic."

Liira looked at her. "What kind of magic?"

"She's going to shoot those Gale Force bastards with bubbles. Either that or she'll blow up the damned place," the Witch interrupted. "Personally, I opt for the latter."

The blonde sniffed. "Well, that just comes to show how much you really know about me," she snapped. "I know more magic from back then. It may not be a lot, but it's enough." Her eyes softened as she frowned. "I can't believe you would really say that about me, Elphie."

Elphaba tried smiling at her. "Well, bubbles aren't that bad, are they? They're a Glinda original. What better way to end a fight than by blinding them with bubbles and then blowing them to pieces?" She frowned when she saw that it didn't seem to be helping her. She sighed. "Have you been studying the Grimmerie like I asked you to?" she asked as a way to change the subject a bit.

Glinda began to nod, but she stopped herself and shook her head. "I thought that I could teach myself. I have the books—yes, I've been reading these past two years, don't look so stricken. Besides, it's an Elphaba original. I can't take the credit of someone else's work. I'm through with all of that." She paused before adding, "Please don't be mad at me, Elphie. I tried, really I did, but I'm just not you."

"I understand that." She looked over at Liira. "It looks like we have someone else capable of doing the job," she told the blonde.

Liira's eyes widened. Her gaze shifted to the leather-bound book that still rested on the table. It seemed to be mocking her, silently saying, "You got yourself into this mess; I'm not getting you out." It was taunting her with its pages. She had tried once, hadn't she? She couldn't read _that!_ No one could! Besides, why make such a fuss over one book that was hardly decipherable? All it had was large quantities of magic, spells, formulas for potions, illusions…._ Just what we need._ "Why can't you do it?" she asked the Witch.

"I've memorized most of the incantations already. Twenty years have done a lot with me," Elphaba replied in a heartbeat. Her eyes softened a little. "Please, Liira, you're the only one who can help. At least think about it. Please?"

If she had been able to reduce the Witch of the West down to pleading, this must be the only thing she could do, the only thing that would work. And now that she thought of it, it could be the only thing that could save Fabala. The green girl looked back at the Grimmerie. "What if I can't?"

Glinda smiled. "Just chant something and wave your broom around. No one will know the difference," she replied before the Witch could. But then her smile disappeared when she suddenly let out a big yawn. The blonde shook it off. "So when are we going to get her?"

"Tomorrow," Liira and Elphaba said in unison, both looking at Glinda like she had an illness. The green girl helped the Good Witch up. "We should get some sleep if we want to fight the Gale Force… and win."

"The adrenaline will keep us awake. We can get her tonight," Glinda protested, but she yawned again, her eyes drooping a little.

Elphaba took her from Liira and led her toward the door. "No, my sweet, we're getting her tomorrow. We're going into a battle zone—we can't have you fainting in the middle of it."

"I'm _fine!_" Glinda cried, turning around right when they made it to the door. "Just trust me on this, Elphaba. We can go in, get Fabala, and get out easily. I'm betting you don't even have to go in. I'm Glinda the Good; they'll listen to me."

"You're talking in delusions," Elphaba said before grabbing the blonde again. She opened the door and said, "They'll betray you—that's the one thing humans are masters at."

The blonde glared at her. "And what does that make you?"

"I'm not human. Never was, never will be."

"Just because you're green?"

Elphaba finally let go of her. She turned to look at the blonde, shock and anger crossing her pointed features. "You know that's not my reasoning, Glinda. I'm not human because—"

"Oh don't give me that 'I'm heartless, I'm soulless' crap, Elphaba! I know that's not true. Why would you risk your life for a little girl you don't even know if you don't have them?" She paused as she reconsidered, then she asked, "But then why are you willing to wait until tomorrow to save her if you really cared about her?"

Liira had been watching all of this from the library as she tried to put the books back in their previous locations. It wasn't really that hard to do—Elphaba had just cleared off two shelves on the wall on the right. She sighed. Must they always fight?

"You're health is what concerns me at the moment," Elphaba was nearly yelling. "I don't want you to collapse from lack of sleep right where they can play target practice!"

"It's all a way to get out of it, I know it!" Glinda cried. "You're using me as a way to get out of having to face them. The old Elphaba used to take charge without question whenever things like this happened. Now you're just a coward—"

"I'm not a coward!"

"Then why are you holding back?!"

Then she saw it. The green girl watched in shock as the Witch stepped forward and slapped the blonde across the face. The sound ricocheted throughout the hall, never quite disappearing until seconds after the strike. Liira was tempted to throw a book at the Witch, but she held herself in check. She shouldn't be getting involved in these things.

She expected Glinda to hit her back and start a catfight of sorts, but she just stood there, glaring at Elphaba as if she were a demon. They were locked in a stare-down, neither one of them blinking. After a moment, the blonde's eyes softened and she nodded slowly. Without a word she went down the hall toward the stairs. Liira saw Elphaba look in her direction and she blushed slightly. "Are you coming?" the Witch asked.

The green girl glanced over at the pile of books that still remained. "I'll be up in a little while," she said. "You go ahead and get some rest."

Elphaba sighed. "Don't stay up so late. We'll need to be up early if we want to catch them off guard." She paused before walking over to Liira. As the girl restarted putting the books away she said, "I'm sorry you had to see that. I swear to Oz it was by instinct that I hit her. I didn't mean it…." She paused again and sighed. "Okay, so maybe I did, but I'm sorry for it nonetheless."

"You don't have to apologize. You did what you felt you had to," Liira said. She didn't bother looking at her for sincerity—it was already there. From past experiences she'd learned that Elphaba rarely ever—almost never—lied. "At least she came to her senses. I could tell that she was running on exhaustion."

"What gets me is the fact that she's been doing so for the past two years. Fighting to not break down, trying to go on in life without the one she loves…. _That_ I can understand. But what I expected is actually a lot worse in reality."

Liira chose now to glance in her direction. She set the books down on the chair near her and asked, "You didn't know that your death would have affected her like this?"

Elphaba shook her head. "It's not that. I knew that she would have gone through a hard time. But Glinda's always found a way to get past troubling situations. I believed that she would have gotten over me in due time," she said.

"Let's see. She lost her friend, who used to be her lover, by a big misunderstanding; you left her all those years ago in the Emerald City, which isn't an easy thing to get over; oh, and that affair in the Emerald City tore her apart, too. Not to mention that you gave her a _daughter_ by the means of magic. You're pretty much the cause of every horrible thing in that woman's life!" Liira sighed, tugging absently on a lock of her hair she tried to quell her frustration. "And yet she's still in love with you, believe it or not. I don't see how that's possible with all that you put her through."

The Witch nodded. She couldn't seem to find anything to say to that, so she simply turned and walked away toward the stairs. Liira shook her head and sighed. She couldn't see how someone could possibly be in love with a woman like Elphaba. The one she knew eight years ago, yes. But the person she'd become now was so… different.

_You're turning out to be like the others—always judging before you actually get to know her._

"Shut up," Liira told herself. She put up the rest of the books and followed the Witch's steps up the steps to the bedrooms. From Glinda's room she heard the sound of soft voices and someone crying—apparently the blonde hadn't gone to sleep yet. The green girl walked into Fabala's room, but froze after that. She couldn't grasp how such a space felt empty just because one person was gone—a person she didn't know all that well.

Liira shook her head and went toward the chair by the window. Well, she couldn't sleep in someone else's bed even if she had permission to stay; she felt guilty still for everything that happened, and that one action would be rubbing it in. The green girl curled herself into the chair, feeling amazingly comfortable as she did. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, but the night was going to be much longer.


	21. Chapter 20 To Aid the Pain

The Witch of the Emerald City  
Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Twenty:

_Tomorrow was going to be a long day, but the night was to be much longer._

"Won't you just _listen _to me already?"

Once again, Glinda didn't answer. She flitted around the demolished bedroom, searching for something unknown and attempting to return fallen objects back in their original place. She wouldn't so much as look at Elphaba, and decided she most likely wouldn't after she was satisfied. The blonde was in no good mood or right mind to deal with Elphaba, and yet she stayed, becoming further infuriated.

Elphaba sighed exasperatedly: if she was going to waste time on the blonde, she might as well make herself useful. Waving her arms in vigorous, circular motion, everything in the room lifted off the ground, minus the diminutive blonde. With another enthusiastic movement, everything was pieced back together.

The nightstand and bed was mended, along with the splintered dresser and shattered mirror. Torn curtains fused thread by thread, and were hung in front of the window. The only thing that was left untouched was the blonde's trademark sparkling wand.

Glinda still avoided her gaze, still remained silent. After a moment of consideration, looking over her surroundings with a nervous twitch, Glinda sat on her newly reformed bed. She brought her legs close to her body, choosing to just stare at the wide space before her. Silence wrapped around them, proving to be an unforgiving force.

"This is getting pathetic, even for someone like you, Glinda," the Witch growled in annoyance. "Won't you talk to me?"

Glinda only shrugged, happy to give a frustrating answer without opening her mouth.

"Smartass," Elphaba muttered under her breath. She advanced toward the blonde, halting in her tracks when Glinda stiffened. She frowned. Of all the things Elphaba could be doing, she had to be stuck in a never-ending quarrel with a foolish, unresponsive woman she once called a lover.

_Well, at least she's keeping quiet_, she mused. But the one time she needed Glinda to speak, the blonde came up short. Pun intended. _Oh, but life is a perfect cycle of happiness,_ she smirked.

The blonde fingered the simple bed sheets as a mechanism of distraction. Finally she looked up at the Witch, trying out what words she wanted to say in her mind. Replacing the appearance of despair that Elphaba grew accustomed to lately, came a sudden a cold glare, one truly uncharacteristic to both the blonde and her feelings. For an instance, Elphaba felt a shiver, as if she stepped out into a freezing winter evening.

"What's to talk about," she began icily, "if it will only be ruined again?"

Glinda's tone of voice unnerved Elphaba, but she'd earned practice from the many days of sharing a room with the blonde. If she was going to be stubborn, then Elphaba was going to be stubborn, too. She wouldn't abandon a cause just because the cause wasn't willing. Someone in her head echoed that Elphaba was never going to give up on Glinda.

"What the hell does that mean, exactly?" Elphaba spat, despite herself.

"I said," Glinda spoke slower, "that we'll just end up ruining our relationship again." she shifted her upper body away again, choosing a shadowed corner to stare at, "You know you've lied to me from the very beginning."

"Yes," the green woman agreed softly, harsh demeanor gradually dissolving. She shuffled closer to her former lover, but stopped again before she could actually reach her. Although she didn't take to emotional expression well, she was smart enough to know where she'd overstep the boundary.

"I know I've hurt you, my sweet, but things happen. Everything runs their natural course. They have to—"

"No, they don't. We did this to ourselves," Glinda whispered. She wrapped her arms around herself, as if it would ward off any harm the green witch could contract to her.

She'd undergone harsh times with Elphaba, considerably the roughest of her life. Lurline knew there would be more blows thrown than what she could handle with Fabala in danger, "If you really loved me, you wouldn't hurt me so much. You wouldn't_ lie_ so much."

"You've no right to put all the blame on me, Glinda. I did what I had to do in order to keep you alive and safe," Elphaba sighed, not wanting to let hot air build up. She was tired of explaining that.

Glinda closed her eyes, blocking the green view, only to discover it burnt behind her eyelids. Taking the time to her advantage, Elphaba slipped closer to Glinda, so that she was standing right in front of her.

"Look at me," she ordered. Blue eyes connected with brown immediately; Elphaba saw the blonde's cheeks color. Whether it be from anger or surprise, Elphaba was determines to break through to whatever walls Glinda built during her absence. "

"If Oz knew that you loved me," she said gently, "there could have been a rising up, and you'd be murdered on the spot. Do you think I wanted that?"

The blonde closed her eyes again, this time tightly to restrict tears from emerging.

"When you died, I did, too," she breathed, barely in a whisper. Glinda let out a shaky breath to calm herself, only to retake it when she failed. Wasn't it only a moment ago where she was in a safe, angry mood? "And you know what? You're killing me all over again! You're not letting me rescue Fabala; she could be dead by now!"

Saying her daughter's name made Glinda choke on her words, and she closed her mouth sharply to hold in a threatening sob. The Witch, in a rare display of concern and condolence, brought a hand up to gently caress the blonde's cheek, opening Glinda's eyes on contact. A green thumb stroked her skin lightly; the blonde leaned into the touch to soak in the way it felt.

"Glinda," Elphaba wanted to sound reassuring, but the blonde flinched some at the sound of her name, "we will get her back."

Glinda frowned. Her eyes shone with sadness that was obviously irreversible. Elphaba thought it made the blonde look like a depressed angel, and only witnessed this once before, when she left twenty years ago in the Emerald City. The blonde shook her head, as if she didn't believe Fabala was coming back.

"Elphie," she practically pleaded, "Elphie, she's in danger. She could be dead. What could they be doing to her right now—they could be doing… horrible things…."

"We'll get her back," Elphaba repeated firmly, "I promise you. Don't you believe me?"

The blonde was still as a statue. Question crossed her delicate features, a flash of disbelief, but she relaxed and chuckled a little, bitterly.

"No," Glinda whispered. To Elphaba's dismay, tears sprang to her eyes, and this time she was unable to hold them back, "I can't trust you. Not after what happened the first time I did. Everything that's happened between us went wrong because I trusted you. I'm sorry…."

"Don't," the Witch interjected. Glinda wished selfishly that Elphaba would break for once. The green woman brought her hand away from Glinda's face, where it rested, ready for automatic soothing. Glinda's eyes shone with disappointment at first, but then confusion.

"Don't apologize for things you cannot change. What's done is done; obviously I can't be trusted. I understand."

"Elphaba!" Glinda shot up from her spot on the bed. She reached out to take the green woman's arms. Elphaba tensed slightly at the action, arms flexing uncomfortably. The blonde's hand, ignoring the Witch's reaction, trailed down that arm until she reached the hand of the woman she used to love.

"Elphaba, I want to be able to trust you again," Glinda said, as if she invested all her faith in the statement. The blonde smiled sadly, making to shake her head. "But after I gave you my heart, and not to mention my body… I don't see how I could give you my daughter's life. It's not even mine to give away."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow at her. "_Your_ daughter?" she asked testily.

Glinda nodded her head, her eyes narrowing in hopes of intimidating the Witch. "Yes, my daughter. Just because you're the other parent doesn't mean you automatically have any claim to her. I gave birth to her; I raised her."

"I was the one who loved you enough to give you a child in the first place," Elphaba shot back. "That lump on a log of a husband was pretty much incapable of impregnating you, wasn't he? He chose not to. Or was he so stupid as to not oblige you?"

The blonde glowered at Elphaba, her anger apparently growing in intensity. "Don't you _dare _blame it all on him, Elphaba! I was the one who didn't want a child by him. I wasn't in love with him, not like I'm in love with you!"

"You have a really funny way of saying you love someone, my sweet. I barely heard a word of it, not even when you let me sleep with you. It was all an act."

"I held out for you, didn't I?" Glinda emphasized her question. Her entire face was colored a deep pink, blushing from the memory of Elphaba's hands on her, her own delving places she didn't want to re-imagine. Silence soon settled upon them, leaving everything that had been said out in the open, tugging at them endlessly. Glinda refused to look away from the green woman now. Now it was too late to turn back. "I waited for you." she whispered, shattering the offending silence, just repeating what she said before.

Elphaba frowned, deciding to let herself open, eyes lessening with cruelty and softening with pity. "You got married." She said pointedly.

Glinda shook her head, "I was forced into marriage by my parents and my friends. I wouldn't even let Chuffrey touch me after our wedding night. I didn't want to… taint myself by sleeping with him instead of staying faithful to you."

She broke eye contact, freeing Elphaba from a scrutinizing gaze at last. Tears wet her eyes and trailed down her chin; the Witch flinched at the mere sight of them. "I loved you more than anything. I gave everything to you… and yet you _still_ had the nerve to break my heart that night," she shot accusingly, pointing a finger at a blank, green face.

"I tried making Fiyero leave," Elphaba said quietly, ignoring Glinda's sudden flair of anger, "men never listen; you know that."

"You're the one to blame," persisted the blonde, but so quietly that Elphaba strained her ears to hear. Glinda sat down on her bed again, and exhaling a long sigh as she went. After a moment, she said, "I can't take it any more, Elphie. We can't go on this way."

"What are you talking about?" Elphaba asked. A sort of fear suddenly shuddered through her as, contemplating what was going on. She knew that, eventually, they would reach the last straw, but never did she think it would be anytime soon.

The sight of Glinda, attempting to hide her distress on the bedside, was a distracting one. Elphaba wished she wasn't the cause of the war-torn look on the pale face, to take it away, but that was impossible. Not even all of the magic in this god-forsaken world could mend the blonde's hopelessness. If they were younger, things might have been easier, but there was too much time and unspoken words passing between them, creating an impossible block.

_If only I hadn't broken her heart so many times_.

"I think," Glinda bit her bottom lip, "I think we should go our separate ways. It'd be better for both of us."

The Witch shook her head, refusing to believe what her former lover was saying.

She rushed to her, turning up Glinda's chin to look at the tears. To her horror, she saw sincerity. It couldn't possibly be happening. After all the years she spent trying to get back to her, to make things right for once, Elphaba not once thought that Glinda would to this to her. Anger suddenly ripped through her, surprising Elphaba at how fast is spread.

"You tell me you love me, and yet you're pushing me aside?" she asked, her voice low, "Make up your mind!"

The blonde once again refused to say anything. She only cried softly, closing her eyes, although it was already established that it helped little.

Elphaba let her go and stepped away from the blonde. A feeling of emptiness settled in her heart as she walked away from her, steadily increasing in its intensity until she was certain she couldn't feel a thing. Finally, she just stopped at the door, fingers already wrapped around the doorknob in preparation to leave. She turned once again to face the blonde, who was already lying down, her eyes closed tightly.

She let go of the anger that was still revolving in her heart, twisting her mind. But she still settled a glare at the ruler of Oz, reminding Glinda that she was still not out of it yet.

"We'll get Fabala back; I promise," she announced solemnly.

The blonde remained unresponsive, just as she was in the beginning.

The Witch opened the door. But before she walked out, she said quietly,

"I still want things to work out between us, no matter how I may have acted. Please consider it, for me, at least."

She closed the door behind her, trudging downstairs to the library. She'd be damned if she didn't make something good come out of all of this.

She just hoped Glinda would come to a good conclusion herself.


	22. Chapter 21 How To Save A Life

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Twenty-one:

_She closed the door behind her, trudging downstairs to the library. She'd be damned if she didn't make something good come out of all of this._

_She just hoped Glinda would come to a good conclusion herself._

Six hours and seventeen minutes later—twenty-seven of which was wasted due to Glinda trying to find her wand—they were out of the house and headed toward the Emerald City. Elphaba had managed to place a masking spell over them that would last a good portion of their journey. Other than that, they were left to rely on shadows that may or may not exist along the way.

Somewhere in the building they had found a broom only slightly different than the one Liira owned now, so the other was given to Elphaba. The cut of the bristles made it go naturally a little faster, making the Witch the one that had to scout out the land while the other two stayed a little further back. The green girl couldn't help but be a little impressed with how well Elphaba flew—never would she imagine having that kind of control over a broomstick. But, of course, she had more experience with these things.

Glinda lagged a little behind Liira, her eyes cast downwards in thought, it seemed. No longer was she wearing the brightly-colored dresses that society would usually have her wear. The Witch had somehow convince her into wearing a lighter dress of the color black, much like what she and Liira were wearing. The black color was drowned out slightly by the pink glow of her bubble. Every once in a while she would speed up her progress, only to slow back down when she reached the green girl.

Only hours ago they had come up with a plan on how to get Fabala out of the Emerald Palace. Chances were that it wouldn't work, or that the Gale Force would have other plans. If that was the case, they were just going to have to improvise. "But honestly, they'll never see it coming," Elphaba had reassured.

Now Liira wasn't so sure. They were dealing with Lurline knows how many soldiers, and the only ones who knew magic were Glinda and Elphaba. Liira was left with the Grimmerie, but what good was that going to do? She could barely even read it as fluently as Elphaba must have. She was completely powerless…. But if she looked on the bright side, as narrow as it may be, she had the power of not one but two Witches coursing through her veins. Something was bound to happen if she at least attempted to read it.

_Fluency doesn't matter. Just read the words as best you can…._

Liira sighed. "How much farther do we have?" she called to Elphaba.

"Ten miles. Think you can hold out?"

The green girl confirmed, but she looked behind her when Glinda didn't say anything. Her brow was furrowed still in thought, as if she were rethinking the entire thing. She hoped that wasn't the case. There was still a chance that she had an influence over the government as well as the military. If she backed out now, they were all as good as dead. She dropped her speed so that she was flying close to the blonde. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked her.

Glinda's head snapped in her direction as she was jarred out of her thoughts. She then averted her gaze and nodded slowly. "Just a little nervous," she said. "I'll be fine."

Liira nodded, then went forward, leaving the ruler of Oz behind. She moved so that she was as close to Elphaba's broom as she dared. With that black hat tilted over her face just slightly and the cape billowing behind her, she looked even more like a Witch than Liira would have even imagined. _No wonder the people of Oz are so scared of her,_ she thought before she could stop herself.

The Witch pointed ahead. "There it is. Recognize it, Liira?" she asked.

The Emerald City—the City of dreams and nightmares—stretched out below them, radiating with green, ethereal light. Liira felt something within her tighten as she gazed at the capital of Oz. It was strange how her homeland could so easily become the last place she wanted be.

And it was even stranger how she could picture it bursting into flames so easily….

Darkness still stretched over the Land of Oz, making it easier to slip through without being seen. Liira was instructed to land nearby the Palace—just on the corner of Ozway Avenue—without exposing herself. She waited for a good five minutes before Elphaba followed with Glinda on the broom, her pale arms wrapped tightly around her waist. "It _looks_ better than it really is; I can't see how you can stand flying on that broom," Glinda commented as she brushed a few strands of wind-blown hair out of her face. She looked up at Elphaba. "So what were we supposed to do next?"

"Okay, we made it to the Palace without getting caught. While Her Ozness here was looking for her wand—"

"It isn't _my_ fault I couldn't find it!" the blonde cried defensively, shooting a glare in the Witch's direction.

"—I had the liberty of searching through those books again. It looks like there's another way out just in case someone tried to ambush the Palace. They needed another passage that _didn't_ lead to Southstairs," Elphaba said. "The next part of the plan is simple: I need Glinda to go through that passage while I cause a disturbance near the front. It's right down the alley. Try looking everywhere you can for Fabala without getting caught."

Liira frowned. "What should I do?"

"Do you have the Grimmerie?"

The green girl's eyes went to the leather bag that was slung over her shoulder. She shifted it a little, then nodded when she felt the weight nearly dragging her arm down.

"Good. Go with Glinda and help her if she needs assistance." Elphaba breathed out a sigh as if to ready herself. "Any questions?"

Glinda raised her hand a little, prompting Elphaba to roll her eyes. The blonde waved her reaction off. "What if something bad happens? Like if they're one step ahead of us? That _has_ happened before, you know," she said, raising an eyebrow at the Witch, who averted her gaze.

Elphaba tilted her head toward the darkened sky and heaved out another breath. "Like I said before. If anything bad happens, just fight your bloody heart out until either they're on the ground bleeding or you're going in toward the light."

"Elphie, you really have to stop thinking like that," the blonde said drawing a face at the remark.

Liira gripped her broom in her left hand tightly. She just hoped everything would work right…. The green girl turned toward the back of the alleyway, her eyes scanning the walls for a sign of a secret passage. She turned around just in time to see Glinda saying something to Elphaba, but she couldn't quite understand what. Her stomach turned when she saw them briefly kiss, then heels clicked against the cobblestone ground as the blonde tried to catch up with the green girl.

A feeling in her gut told her that something was going to go horribly wrong….

-( )-

Elphaba breathed out as she thought about how the hell she was going to get inside. Opening the door was going to be a dead giveaway. The soldiers inside would most likely attack her then when she needed to _slip_ inside…. _Not very smart now, are we?_ a voice in her mind taunted, but she pushed it aside. Now she needed to concentrate, to come up with another idea.

Almost instantly, a thought came to mind. She mounted her broom and flew up over the doorway, just enough to remain hidden. Balancing herself, she held her arms out in front of her and began moving her hands in small circles, chanting the words that first came to mind. Elphaba heard the sound of the doors creaking open slowly. Shouts of surprise soon followed. The sound of boots pounding against the green marble floors was deafening; surely the entire City would wake up the moment they heard it!

The Witch kept chanting softly until both doors were fully open. The soldiers filed out five at a time, looking everywhere frantically for the unseen force that had opened the Palace doors. Elphaba just sat there on her broom, watching the soldiers as their confusion took over and they scurried left and right trying to find the cause of their disturbance. _Must be the ghost of the Wicked Witch of the West,_ she thought, and she grinned at that. No matter what, change would always scare the living daylight out of these people. This was an example of how true that was.

Finally, when she decided that she had enough fun teasing them, she dropped back down to the entrance of the Palace. Elphaba glanced inside; everyone had evacuated that part of the building. There probably were some more soldiers deeper into the Palace. She hoped that Liira and Glinda would find their way through okay. Sure enough, she saw the blonde and the green girl hurry through the main room and head toward the back. Glinda looked back only momentarily to catch a glimpse of Elphaba before following Liira to the throne room.

The Witch breathed a silent sigh of relief. She turned to the soldiers, who were _still_ looking around like the idiots they were, and let out a cackle to alert them. All fifty of them turned on her in surprise. One of them was stupid enough to point at her and cry, "It's the Wicked Witch of the West!" as if it weren't already obvious.

Elphaba readied herself for the oncoming fight. _Luck, don't fail me now…._

-( )-

Glinda fell back against the door and let out a breath. Never before had her heart beat this fast, even when standing in front of most of the citizens of Oz. Maybe if you put in the fact that you could die doing something like this, you feel an extra jolt of adrenaline than usual. She looked ahead and saw Liira taking the Grimmerie out of the leather bag. Confusion and curiosity caused her to step away from the door and walk toward the girl. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Liira didn't answer right away. She flipped through the pages, shaking her head every once in a while when it was apparent that she hadn't found what she was looking for. In the dimly lit hall that led to the next room, Liira appeared even more fragile than before. That was a trait that Glinda would have never expected of the daughter of Elphaba… not that she ever thought of Elphaba ever having children in general.

The green girl shook her head one last time before closing the book. "I was looking for a spell. Preferably one that would serve as a sort of tracking device."

"A tracking device?"

Liira nodded. "If we had a spell like that, maybe we could track Fabala down a lot faster. That, and we'd be able to avoid the other soldiers that Elphaba isn't fighting already," she said.

Glinda nodded. Her gaze went to the door before she dropped down beside Liira. She pulled the Grimmerie to her. Maybe she could just try…. She opened the battered tome to a random page and squinted at the letters. "I can't see," she muttered. Her hand went to her wand, and she waved it once in front of her. A bubble-like light was created from thin air, casting a dim pink glow over the pages. The blonde shrugged. It was better than the ones that lit this hallway.

Her eyes scanned the page in front of her. She closed them for a few minutes, then reopened them again to see if she could read the words this time. Elphaba made everything look so easy! Glinda couldn't understand how she could read this thing, much less memorizeit. She cast a look toward Liira, who was also reading the spell. _At least she has a good grip on it,_ she thought before nudging it back toward her green companion.

Liira delved into the pages again, this time actually looking over it before turning the page. Finally she asked, "Are you nervous?"

Glinda frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You seemed to be lagging behind a little on our way here. I was just wondering if you were nervous or just upset."

The blonde drew her legs up to her chest before resting her head on her folded arms. She breathed out. "I'm terrified," she admitted. "I'm not used to this; I'm not like Elphaba. She rebelled against the government and tried to assassinate the Wizard of Oz. She never quite made it there, obviously, but still. The only thing I'm useful for is to keep people like her in line with laws that they're just going to break anyway. Leave the actual fighting up to the Gale Force." She laughed. "Most likely I'll be put back in the spotlight if I die here. 'Long live Glinda the Good, for she has been brainwashed by the notorious Witch of the West!'"

Liira looked up at her. "She doesn't seem that bad," she said.

"Try telling that to the rest of Oz and you'll be killed on the spot. According to them, she's nothing but a horrible Witch who seduces young children to her evil ways. She was born without a heart, without a soul…. Her mind is tainted with evil thoughts; she's the source of all our plagues. And the powerful and almighty Glinda the Good is supposed to save them from all their fears!" Glinda shook her head. "Trust a coward to save a coward. That must be their moral," she said.

"Why won't you just try to tell them what you know about Elphaba? They'll actually listen to you."

Glinda let out a most unladylike snort. "It's because that green-skinned _hag_ won't let me! She doesn't want me to endanger myself by getting into her life, and then she waltzes back into mine and ruins it once again…. But I guess that's what I love about her. She's always changing, that one." A thought suddenly came to her. She looked up at Liira, who had gone back to studying the Grimmerie. "Liira, Elphie is your mother, isn't she?" she asked.

The green girl nodded slowly. "Yes, why?"

"If she's your mother, why won't you call her that instead of calling her 'Elphaba' all the time? I mean, I'm not trying to bother you with this—it's just a question of curiosity rather than something to start a lecture…." Glinda trailed off and bit her lip. She should _really_ learn when to stop talking.

Liira shrugged and closed the book again. "I'm just still new to it. I've always treated her like a mother, but… I'm just not used to the whole family thing. I may never call her my mother," the green girl said as she got up. She held out her hand and Glinda took it, letting Liira help her to her feet. "But I've accepted the fact that she is, so that's all that really matters. Kind of how I think of you as my mother as well."

Glinda flushed, and a smile lit up her face. Before she could help herself, she put her arms around Liira and hugged her. "Thank you. I needed that," she said before letting go. She was about to say something else when suddenly she heard the door behind them being beat on. Panic once again set in.

"_Halt, in the name of Glinda the Good!"_ the Captain of the Guard bellowed.

"Oh, put a sock in it!" was the reply of the Witch.

The blonde stood in front of Liira, her wand ready. This was it—this was the moment that they'd all been waiting for…. There was suddenly an explosion and a scream from the other side of the door. Glinda's eyes widened in fear. _Elphie…._ The dust cleared just as she ran forward, her staff-like wand poised on the offense. _Just let her be alright…._ She saw a black form lying on the ground, and she swung the wand as hard as she could at the soldier standing above it. The end met his skull with a _crack_, and he was down on the floor, unconscious.

Glinda dropped to her knees beside the black figure just as Liira rushed forward as well, saying the first spell that came to her mind. It seemed like a barrier had formed in front of the three of them just as the soldiers began to fire their guns at them. But then they stopped when they realized what they were doing. A long silence passed among all of them, save for Glinda's ragged breathing.

When everything fell into place, all hell seemingly broke lose.


	23. Chapter 22 Anyone Care To Explain?

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Twenty-two:

_When everything fell into place, all hell seemingly broke lose._

An uncomfortable silence settled over everyone in the Palace. The Gale Force merely stared in shock at what was laid out before them. The Good Witch—the one whom everyone loved and adored—was kneeling down beside the Witch of the West, holding her defensively. Liira breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw movement from Elphaba. But although they had this one good thing happen, that didn't mean everything else would turn out the way they wanted.

Finally, one of the guards—most likely the Captain—broke out of his state of shock. His eyes narrowed in a confused glare. "Glinda," he said, calling all attention to him. "What do you think you're doing?"

Liira glanced over at the blonde, who wasn't focusing on the Gale Force. That was pretty brave of her considering that they were leveling guns and swords at them. She watched as Glinda whispered something to the woman dressed in black—presumably Elphaba—then pulled back a little with a smile of relief on her face. Liira's blue eyes then darted back to the soldiers in apprehension. Their guns lowered, but the death-grip remained.

The blonde finally looked up at the soldiers, her eyes burning dangerously. "I can't believe you people," Glinda said, her voice merely an echo in the empty space between them. But then it increased in volume as her anger and frustration finally reached its limit. "Wasting your time trying to kill the greatest person in Oz. You should be ashamed of yourselves!" she exclaimed, her eyes bearing holes into every one of them.

"The greatest person in Oz? Your Goodness, are you _blind?_" one of the soldiers asked. "You hold in your arms the Wicked Witch of the West! You're crazy to think that she is so great."

"No, I'm sane enough." Liira glanced over at the blonde at this in shock. Great. Now she was going to get them all killed. "_You're_ the crazy ones for not understanding! What evil thing has Elphaba done in her life?" Glinda asked.

"She chased off the Wizard," cried one soldier.

"She went against his laws and helped the Animals!" cried another.

"The Wizard was a powerless fraud anyway!" Glinda shouted. "He's done nothing but make us suffer, and then he promised he'd make things better. The Animals have done nothing wrong as well. They were merely just misunderstood. Just like someone else in the world," she said, looking down at her lover.

Elphaba pulled herself up, making the crowd of men suck in a collective gasp and back off a little. Her dark eyes hardened in frustration equal to that of Glinda's. "Cowards! Listen to me if you won't listen to her," she said. "I'm not the enemy here! I've done nothing to deserve the title of the Wicked Witch of the West. That was all the Wizard's doing!"

The soldiers made no move against her, so shocked were they. Liira sat down and began flipping through the Grimmerie again. Those two just had to keep the Gale Force's attention for a few more moments….

Glinda sighed, her expression softening. "Please, just listen to us? I'm sure we can come up with an agreement on something. You just have to believe me—Elphaba is not the evil one you think she is. She's the kindest, sweetest, most caring person I've ever met. Please give her a chance?" she asked.

"Why do you want us to believe in her? She may be just taking advantage of you to get what she wants!"

The blonde looked down at the ground, her face turning a bright pink. "She isn't taking advantage of me. She never has." She looked back up at the soldiers and calmly said, "She loves me, as I love her."

Another gasp of surprise came from the soldiers, followed by a cry of outrage. "Ludicrous! How could you possibly fall in love with another woman, let alone her!"

"That doesn't matter now! Please. Listen to me!"

But they had gone past all points of reason now. One revelation after another had finally pushed them to their final decision. Glinda was now tainted in their eyes. She was never to be trusted ever again, and to prevent that from ever happening….

Liira gasped. She furiously turned the yellowing pages. _Come on, there has to be _something _in this blasted book!_ Her eyes shifted to the two Witches, who were now scrambling to their feet and bolting down to the throne room as the soldiers finally lost control. She closed the book, grabbed her broom, and dashed after them. The shouts and gunfire echoed through the hall, following them into the throne room of the Wizard of Oz himself until—

"Elphie!"

The door slammed shut behind them before Liira could even turn around, locking them into darkness. The green girl stepped forward into the sea of black. It felt weird how she could be so calm here whereas someone nearby was crying. Liira turned back and walked toward the voice. A familiar pink bubble appeared out from nowhere, lighting a path. She could see Glinda on her knees, crying and muttering to herself. _Since when is she never crying?_

Liira took this time to look around with the limited light given to her. It wasn't at all like she would have imagined the domain of the Wizard of Oz to be. It was like this part of the entire building had never been used in quite some time. There were signs of cobwebs sticking to the walls and the ceiling. A cage hung open near the back wall. Banners that had once been used as decoration were now torn down and cast away as nothing. The giant mechanical head that was spoken to be the intimidating Wizard himself hung loose, its mouth left open on its hinges. It was such an unholy sight to see.

The green girl went back to Glinda and kneeled down beside her. "Glinda," she said to call her out of her current helpless state. "Glinda, snap out of it. What happened?"

"It's Elphie," she whispered. The blonde winced when she heard gunshot after gunshot fire on the other side of the door. "She didn't make it through…. She just—"

"Wait a minute. Elphaba's still out there?" Liira asked in disbelief. She looked toward the barrier between them and the ones still fighting. She heard a threatening cackle from none other than Elphaba herself, and she relaxed somewhat. The green girl pulled the trembling blonde into her arms. "It's okay; she's still alive." She looked down at Glinda and said, "Elphaba's giving us more time to find Fabala. She has to be some—"

"Liira, we can't just leave her here!" Glinda protested, her blue eyes bearing into the green girl's. Her face held such a look of tragedy that it nearly broke Liira's heart. "She'll die if we don't help. She promised me that she wasn't going to do anything stupid and she did! Elphie's going to die…."

The green girl sighed. She pulled the blonde to her feet and helped her move forward, though she was determined to stay put. It was obvious that when Glinda had her mind set on something, she never gave up on it. And the main thing on her mind was to save Elphaba.

_Because she couldn't save her in the past…._

Liira let out another breath and sat down on the cold floor again. Surely there had to be something that would help Elphaba…. She flipped the book open to yet another random page and began reading the words. "Let's see now…. Eleka nahmen… nahmen atum atum eleka nahmen. That can't be too hard can it?" she asked herself.

Glinda sniffed from where she stood beside the green girl. "What kind of spell is that?"

"It's the Spell of Life. It keeps a chosen person from being hurt and from dying."

The blonde shook her head. "She'd kill you if you did that. She's already cursing that book for bringing her back from the dead." Glinda gasped and spun around when she suddenly heard a loud curse and a scream. She looked to the green girl, her eyes wide. "Liira… you don't think…?"

Liira was robbed of her chance to reply when the doors opened part way for a brief moment, then slammed back shut. She watched the figure coming toward her warily. The sound of army boots against the floor made shivers run up her spine. And she caught the person carrying something in his hands. A gun? A sword? Then confusion took over. They only sent one person to kill them?

There was a sharp gasp from Glinda—Liira tensed as she prepared to strike—and then a rather loud, "Elphie!"

Liira watched the blonde suddenly throw herself onto the newcomer with shocking enthusiasm. She heard a grunt of protest come from the person, followed by an all-to-familiar voice saying, "I suggest you get off of me before I throw you out there!"

Glinda kissed the Witch fiercely. "Don't you ever do that to me again! You nearly gave me a heart attack," the blonde cried before kissing her again.

Elphaba seemed to turn a darker green at the contact. "Okay, I won't. Now get off!" she exclaimed before Glinda finally let go of her. Her eyes suddenly went to the state of the room. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "What happened to this place?"

Liira shrugged. "Do you think they had any raids during the time Oz was without a leader?" she asked.

"No," the blonde said. It seemed that she had sobered some since her outburst a few minutes ago. "The Animals broke in more than a year ago for revenge. They didn't take anything, but they damaged everything that belonged to the Wizard, and everything he had was in this very room." She sighed. "The world is so corrupt one way or another. And there's no way to end all of the pain and sadness of it."

The green girl nodded. She watched as Elphaba went to the mechanical head and studied it for a moment. The Witch then kicked it lightly, jumping back when the jaw fell to the ground and rolled to the other end of the room. Elphaba stepped back up to the head still, and she looked at it a while more. "You can tell that he never had many visitors—it's rusted," she mused. She turned back to Glinda and Liira. "Fabala is most likely nearby. We should probably keep searching."

Glinda sighed. She walked over to the Witch and took her arm. "I guess so. Come on, Liira," she called behind her.

Liira picked up the Grimmerie and ran after them, casting a look behind her as she did. There wasn't the sound of soldiers trying to beat the door down. There weren't any shouts of rage and vengeful fury. In fact, there was nothing but the sound of Elphaba and Glinda steadily walking away. It sounded kind of eerie…. "Elphaba, what did you do to them?" she asked the Witch.

Elphaba smiled. "I knocked them out. It was one of the easier spells in the Grimmerie," she replied. "Speaking of which, you did a good job with that barrier. I didn't even know you could find something like that in there."

The green girl flushed. "That wasn't the Grimmerie," she admitted with a smile. She looked at both Witches' surprised expressions, and the smile disappeared. "Is that good?" she asked.

"Um… it's kind of advanced for a beginner like you," Glinda said. "Usually you don't gain that kind of ability until you've been practicing for at least a year or so."

Elphaba grinned. "Looks like we've got a natural Witch on our hands," she laughed.

They walked for a while longer in silence, focusing solely on their current task, before they finally came upon yet another door. It wasn't as big as the other one, and this one was made out of wood rather than emerald, making it the odd one out. Glinda stepped forward and examined it for a moment. She then waved the other two over. "You've got to see this," she said, her voice shaking.

Liira walked with Elphaba up to the door. The pink bubble-light followed and hovered over the door, enabling them to see. Carved into the woodwork was a note:

'_Death to the Witches—  
__Save all that are Good!'_

Blood was smeared over the door, and it looked fresh.


	24. Chapter 23 The Final Battle

The Witch of the Emerald City

Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Twenty-three:

_Blood was smeared over the door, and it looked fresh._

The air around them suddenly grew thin as the same assumption appeared in their minds. Glinda looked away with tears once again in her eyes; Elphaba reached out to steady her. Liira was just left to stand there, staring at the blood of…. No, it wasn't proven. There was no way that Fabala could have met such a fate. This was just something to weaken their defenses.

Unfortunately, that's not what Elphaba believed.

"We got here too late," she said sadly, though no tears fell from her eyes.

Liira shook her head, refusing to accept that. What was there to accept? It wasn't true! The green girl reached out and grabbed the doorknob. She heard Glinda whimper behind her; she ignored the blonde. There was nothing to worry about…. The door swung open agonizingly slow, torturing the green girl. She pushed it open the rest of the way and stepped inside.

She immediately wished she hadn't.

Blood was splattered over the walls and windows. Nearby was a rifle that looked like it had been recently unloaded. A body lay on the ground, bound and gagged, with several gunshot wounds in multiple places until you could hardly tell who it once had been. But it was too painfully obvious by the sound of Glinda's heart-wrenching sobs.

Fabala lay on the floor, blood covering her unmoving body….

The green girl felt every horrible emotion flash through her. Frustration, anger, depression, despair, hopelessness, suffering, pain, sadness…. Then nothing. It was as if a feeling of calmness had seeped into her mind, making her unable to express anything at all. Perhaps it was better for her to not show anything. Anymore negative thoughts and feelings would most likely have them drop their guard altogether. And one of them was already thinking of giving up….

With a sigh, Liira went to the bloody corpse and kneeled down beside it. She ignored the crying coming from behind her; it only added to the guilt she felt.

"'_Course, I wouldn't really mind having someone like you as a sister. It could be fun."_

Liira sighed. "It was great while it lasted," she whispered. She knew that she only knew Fabala for only a day—maybe less—but she still couldn't help feeling remorseful. After all, they were related. And she seemed to be a really great person…. The green girl reached into the bag that was still slung over her shoulder and pulled out a scarf. Made from the Vinkus, it had a rose design with a black background. It was the same one Fabala had worn when they first met.

She took the scarf and carefully went to tie it around Fabala's neck. It helped bring a little bit of life back to her—the black was a major contrast to the pale pink dress she wore. But life would never fully return to Fabala, for that was impossible. _Unless you're a certain Witch,_ she reminded herself. Liira stood and turned to the two Witches. She was a bit relieved to see that Glinda had calmed down some—she was still in Elphaba's arms, but she seemed to not be crying anymore. That was a good thing….

The green girl took up her broom and walked toward them. "Okay, we need another plan," she said. "Does anyone have any ideas?"

Elphaba shook her head. "What else can we do? Our reason for coming here is gone. Other than quitting, there's nothing else we _can_ do," she said.

"No, it ends today," Liira said sternly. Her eyes went to Glinda. "We need to get them to understand. We need to make these people to believe that Elphaba isn't as bad as they thought. Please tell me that there's something we can do."

The blonde looked past Liira at the body of her deceased daughter. She finally glanced back up at the green girl, a new fire in her eyes. "We'll keep fighting. That's the only thing we can do right now," she said.

"What good is that going to do?" Elphaba asked. "If we fight them, it will only put you out of their good graces. I don't want that to happen."

Glinda looked up at the Witch. "You've risked yourself to save my reputation long enough, Elphie. I don't care anymore," she said. "Revenge isn't what I'm asking for, but they need someone to knock them back to their senses. We may be the only ones who will be able to do that."

"But how is that going to happen? They have us outnumbered; they almost had me cornered back there!"

The blonde smiled. "We're just going to have to improvise then."

-( )-

Just a few moments ago, the soldiers had regained consciousness and were now assessing the dead and the wounded. To their surprise and confusion, there were none like that. If the Witch was powerful enough to destroy all of them, why hadn't she done so? It was then when they realized that they had been lied to all along….

The Witch wasn't as powerful as they were told she was.

The Captain of the Guard ordered his men to get as much water as they could. If they killed the Witch, maybe they would have a better chance of saving Glinda the Good. They just hoped that the plan would work….

-( )-

"Are you ready, Liira?"

The green girl held the Grimmerie under one arm while holding onto her broom with the other. Of course she was ready! She had _been_ ready… just until Elphaba asked her. Now she wasn't so sure. They had spent the last five minutes discussing the groundings of their attack on the Gale Force. Liira was supposed to hover above them and trap them with a spell while Elphaba and Glinda attacked. That was all the details they had given her. And that meant that they had no real plan.

_We're going to die…._

She looked over at the Witch nervously. "Are you sure this is going to work?" she asked her.

Elphaba was positive and direct, though the future seemed bleak. "I honestly have no clue. You're just going to have to trust us." She frowned when she saw the look of panic on Liira's face. "Relax! I can assure you that we will get out of this alive, whether they like it or not," she said.

"Are you _sure?_"

"Like I said, I have no idea."

Liira looked over at Glinda, her eyes pleading. "Don't make me go out there. I don't want to be a martyr for a country that doesn't give a damn!" she cried. She hoped that the blonde would be the one to stop this. It was a crazy idea to begin with. What if something horrible went wrong? Glinda was always the voice of reason. _Convince Elphaba that she's doing the wrong thing,_ she silently pleaded to the blonde.

Glinda only looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, Liira, but we all have to go past our comfort zones in this. Well—" She glanced at Elphaba in consideration, "—_some_ of us, at least."

_So much for the voice of reason,_ Liira thought before she could stop herself. She let out another breath and readied herself for what was going to happen. She had to focus…. Liira felt her dread begin to ebb as she concentrated on the task at hand. The sound of heavy footsteps pounded on the marble floor suddenly. She felt a jolt of adrenaline and fear, but that quickly disappeared. The shouts grew louder…. Something about death to Evil….

_Concentrate. That's all I need to do to make this work, _Liira thought. _Think of this as just another trick…._

"Okay, Liira. Go!"

Liira mounted the broom and rose into the air. She silently thanked the forces that be for the ridiculously high ceilings and the vast amount of darkness that covered the wide hallway. The green girl watched from above as the soldiers filed into the darkened hall in a huge mob not unlike the ones the Witch Hunters had gathered in. It looked like every one of them was coming; there was no use for any of them to guard the rest of Palace seeing how they had the Witches trapped. Boy, were they in for a big surprise….

She peered even closer at the group when something caught her eye. They were carrying something other than their usual swords and rifles. Liira was tempted to move even closer to see what the hell they had in their hands, but she resisted. She had to keep her position above them. Her eyes went to Elphaba and Glinda just to see what they were doing. She only saw Glinda back where Liira had left them. The blonde gave her a small wave, then looked back into the shadows momentarily. Finally she came back into Liira's line of sight and mouthed only one word: "Now."

The green girl balanced herself on the broom and flipped open the leather-bound book to the marked page. The letters seemed to almost rise off the page to ensure that she'd be able to read them in the dim emerald light. Liira grinned and looked down at the soldiers. _Let's have a bit of fun, _she thought. "Fellow Ozians!" she screeched with a loud cackle. A perfect mix of Glinda and Elphaba to make them fear for their lives. Brilliant. She grinned even wider when they all looked up at her. She gave them a small little half-wave. "Remember me?"

"The Witch of the Emerald City!" one of them stuttered.

Before they had a chance to raise their weapons, Liira looked into the Grimmerie and read the words that were written. They spilled off of her tongue as if she'd known it all her life; her body surged with its power. All of a sudden, walls of green light shot up from the ground, halting the soldiers' actions. But only temporarily. Then the crowd of men shot forward with a loud cry, determined to take down the strange walls of emerald radiance.

Unfortunately, the ones who touched the walls were knocked backward, hitting the ground hard.

Liira watched as Elphaba and Glinda suddenly bolted from their hiding place. They ran straight through the barrier before them to the soldiers' surprise. Glinda waved her staff-like wand in front of her, immediately creating a wave of flames.

_Pink_ flames.

_Some things just never change…._

Glinda now prepared for her next attack with the soldiers rushing toward them, weapons drawn. This one, however was taking longer.

Elphaba glared at her after completing one of her own spells—at least ten soldiers were knocked to the ground by a huge gust of wind. "Would you just hurry up!" she yelled.

The blonde shot a glare in the Witch's direction as she formed a bubble in front of her with her wand. "Have patience," she snapped. "You cannot speed perfection."

"Perfection is an illusion!" Elphaba cried. She pushed the blonde out of the way as she sent a wave of flames toward their opponents.

The first row of soldiers jumped and ran to the back, exposing the second. This one, however was more prepared. Liira watched as they clutched what looked like buckets with both hands and tossed the contents in the Witches' direction. The blonde and the Witch jumped back, one in surprise and the other in a mix of shock and fear. It was then when it registered in Liira's mind what it was.

Water.

The clear death.

Liira's mind began to race. What was she supposed to do now? Just watch them from her place in the air as they slowly were worn down? The green girl shook her head. She had to do _something!_ And so she went on the first thing she could think of. Liira looked through the Grimmerie hurriedly until she finally came upon a simple spell. Muttering the incantation under her breath, the green girl created a ball of lightning in her hands. She smiled. This was _so_ much better than paint bombs….

"Hey, jackasses!" she screamed. Several heads looked in her direction, and looks of all-too-familiar panic found its way back to their faces. It was like they had ignored her all this time…. She shook this thought out of her mind and readied the ball of lightning. "Catch!" Liira hurled the small orb at the soldiers.

Four of the soldiers—by reflex, of course—hurled their buckets of water at the static bomb. The contact resulted in a minor explosion, enough to wipe out the next three rows of soldiers. The other soldiers saw this and dropped the buckets they held in sudden fear that the same would happen to them.

Liira glanced down on the two Witches. One was gaping at her in shock while the other was still focusing on the soldiers. "What the hell?" Glinda mouthed to the green girl. Liira shrugged and went back to the current issue. She glared down at the cowering men. "How dare you try to attack the great and powerful Witches of Oz! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" the Witch of the Emerald City cried.

The Captain of the Guard wasn't so shaken. He ignored the shouts of Liira and aimed his rifle first at Elphaba, then at Glinda, alternating between the two as if wondering who he should take down first. He finally steadied it at the Witch of the West. The Captain grinned. "Death to the Witches—save all that is good!" he cried, repeating the words that were carved on the door as he prepared to shoot.

Liira gasped. She swooped down to try to interfere, to save Elphaba. But the trigger was released. The bullet was launched out of the rifle with a sound of thunder, echoing throughout the hall.

But the cry of pain never came.

Glinda had jumped between Elphaba and the bullet, twirling her wand to counter the flying ball of metal. She glared at the Captain, her eyes flashing dangerously. "If you dare hurt my Elphie, I swear to Oz I will curse your family for seven generations," she growled.

The Captain frowned. "Lady Glinda, step aside! Think about what you're doing; you're saving a _Witch!_"

"I am perfectly aware of what I'm doing," Glinda shot back. The blonde took a step forward, her grip on her wand tightening. "Listen to me just this once. Elphaba and Liira aren't your enemies! They never were!"

"Do you have any proof?"

Glinda pointed the tip of her wand at the Captain. "What evil have you ever seen them do? What horrible things have then ever done to you or the people you love? Don't be asking me for proof of their actions when you yourself don't have any for your own!" she cried.

Liira shut the Grimmerie and focused on the debate that was transpiring before her very eyes. The Gale Force had finally locked their attention on Glinda. Maybe things could work out for the better after all.

"Elphaba has always been there for me when I needed her the most. She's a great person and an amazing friend. She's unlike many other people I've dealt with in my life. And because of her uniqueness, I've come to love her." She glanced over at the Witch, seeing if she had her attention also—it was obvious she did. The blonde hesitated before saying, "Please, just give her the benefit of a doubt. I know it's hard to change your mind about someone so suddenly, but at least give her a chance. And Liira as well."

_Glad to know I'm not completely forgotten,_ Liira thought with a smile.

Silence filled the hallway, save someone whispering. The green girl looked in the voice's direction. Elphaba stood behind Glinda, a green hand on her shoulder, mouthing words that Liira couldn't discern. Then the others began to whisper and mutter to each other as the full weight of Glinda's words finally sank in.

"Do we trust her?"

"She says the Witches are good."

"Glinda's never let us down before…."

Then there was a cry of frustration. The Captain of the Guard wheeled around, throwing dark glares at his men. "Don't listen to her! Her mind's been corrupted by the two Witches!" He pointed at Glinda and Elphaba. "Attack them, now!"

But the soldiers would not move. Then, one by one, they dropped their weapons. Liira breathed a sigh of relief, as did Glinda—Elphaba was still muttering something under her breath like a mantra. But the reprieve didn't last for long.

"You fools! How dare you ignore my orders!" the Captain yelled.

"We're sorry, sir," one of them said. "But Glinda the Good has never lied to us—not once. She may be telling the truth."

The Captain growled. "But she's being controlled by that green _freak!_" he yelled.

Another man spoke up. "Glinda is too pure to be tainted by evil. She _can't_ be lying to us." The man dropped his sword. "We surrender."

Glinda once again had tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much," she said. "I promise you, you have not made the wrong decision." The blonde took a step forward, but froze when she heard a gun being cocked.

Liira looked back at the Captain, who still held his rifle. She could see a manic and furious scowl on his face. _Shit._ The green girl flew down as fast as she could toward her two companions in a desperate attempt to somehow save them. She happened to make it just in time to hear the gun being fired and Elphaba cry out the last word to her spell. She braced herself for the bullet's impact, her eyes shut tight. A wave of air rippled over her, a flash of inescapable pain following, and then….

Nothing.


	25. Chapter 24: To Live and Die

The Witch of the Emerald City  
Kirra White Tigress

Chapter Twenty-four:

_A wave of air rippled over her, a flash of inescapable pain following, and then…._

_Nothing._

Liira's body hit the ground, pain shooting from her shoulder down the rest of her arm. She bit back a cry of pain and instead let the sensation pass on its own. All of her senses were trained on her injured arm—she could barely hear or see clearly. The green girl closed her eyes in her own defeat, trying to force herself to hear the reactions around her, if there were any at all.

She heard something clatter to the ground before she heard a name whispered. Liira forced her eyes open and fought to sit up—the pain in her left arm was unbearable. But she had to see. She had to take a look at what had happened. Otherwise she would only be trapped in silence….

"Elphie…."

The green girl froze with rising fear. This wasn't good. She glanced to her right, to where Elphaba and Glinda were. She could see the blonde on her knees, clutching something close to her. A body…. Panic coursed through her now. What the hell was going on? Why was she holding Elphaba's body?

Elphaba's body….

_She risked her life to save mine…._

Liira brought a hand to her wounded arm and lightly touched it. There wasn't any blood—only pain from where she had made impact with the marble floor. Her eyes went to the soldiers, who most likely were watching this in confusion or their own fear caused by their quick change of heart.

But they, too, were not moving.

They stood trapped, frozen in place as if affected by a Paralysis spell. The looks of fear and fury in their eyes bore holes through Liira's—she had to look away. But she noticed even from this distance that the trigger had been pulled. Elphaba had pushed her daughter out of the way, stepping in front of Glinda as well, and….

_Why?_ Liira thought, her mind still numbed by all of this. _Why did she do it? She could have let me take the hit._

_The Witch really is Good after all,_ her own mind replied, and she left it at that.

"Elphie…. Please…."

Her attention went back to the heartbreaking sight nearby. She couldn't see the wound—the black clothing concealed too much—but the looks of pain in both their eyes told all.

Glinda gently stroked her former-lover's hair, her eyes shining bright with tears that she refused to shed. "Why did you do it?" she asked, her voice trembling in the still silence surrounding her. "You didn't have to do anything. You could have just stayed where you were."

The Witch allowed herself to smile, though she still looked pained. "Would you rather me let Liira die?" she countered. She brought a hand up to touch Glinda's face, wincing slightly. "I'll be okay. It's just a scratch; it's nothing."

"You've always made things sound simpler than they really are. I've always hated you for that…." Glinda sniffed, evidently still trying to keep the tears back to spare the Witch anymore pain. Finally after a moment of silence, she spoke again. "I don't think any of this is fair, Elphie. You always appear in my life for just more than a minute before taking yourself away from me. And now…." She bit her lip—it seemed she was trying to use her own pain to get past the unbearable thoughts that apparently tried to consume her mind. "Please stay. Just this once? I promise I'll never take advantage of you; I'll be the person you've always wanted me to be. Just don't die!" she pleaded.

Elphaba's smile faded slightly at the sight of Glinda's desperation. She let out a breath and forced herself to sit up—Glinda's eyes widened in fear as the green woman did this. Still the Witch did as she wanted, no matter if it sped up the coming of her death. Her dark eyes bore into the blonde's, trying to get her to understand. "I can't control these things, and neither can you. It's about time you accepted that," she said. Then her gaze softened, and she leaned forward to kiss her lover softly. "Know that I will always love you, Glinda. From now until the end of eternity."

Glinda kissed her back, knowing this would be the last time she would ever do so. "I love you, too," she whispered against her lips. But then the contact was broken as Elphaba's head fell back, her body going limp…. The blonde's eyes widened as panic once again took over. She shook her head, not wanting to believe what was right in front of her. "Elphie," she said sternly to try to call her back to consciousness. But the green woman remained still, breathless, lifeless. Glinda suddenly began to break down, whispering her lover's name over and over again like a mantra.

Liira could only watch as the blonde's heart broke once again. There was nothing she could do to help her now. She couldn't bring Elphaba back—to bring a person back from the dead would require another life to be taken, and even then it was proven impossible. Magic could not create. It could only savage the broken pieces and reconstruct. So even then, there was no hope of the Witch ever coming back….

_Why must life be this way?_

She stood up, ignoring the pain that blazed through her shoulder; Glinda did not look her way. Her focus went to the Grimmerie that lay only a few feet away from her. From here it didn't seem to be damaged in any way—this was good. The green girl picked it up and brushed it off before carrying it back to the ruler of Oz. Without a word being said, Liira knelt in front of the distressed blonde and went to open the large tome.

Glinda looked up upon seeing the pages being turned in front of her. She instinctively pulled Elphaba's body close to her, her blue eyes hardening into azure diamonds. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Looking up a spell," Liira responded.

"Why are you using this… this evil… _thing?!_" the blonde spat, her eyes leveled at the ancient tome. As she spoke, the more protective she seemed to grow toward her dead lover, who still lay in her arms. "This book killed my Elphie! What good is it to try to use it again?"

"She used a Time Sealing spell to save our lives—"

"And it _killed_ her!" Glinda shouted. Her eyes went to Liira's, cutting through them easily. "This damned spell book has too dark a history to be trusted, Liira! It destroyed Elphaba; it destroyed my life…." She bit her bottom lip again, her anger dissolving into nothing but pure anguish. "It could destroy _you_. And I don't want that to happen. You're the only one in my life I have left…."

Liira ignored her. Instead she continued leafing through the pages, trying to find a spell that would break the one already placed over the area, a spell that could help them. There wasn't any use listening to Glinda now. Yes, her heart was battered to the point where it was now bleeding. But she was too delirious with the pain of losing two people she loved to be taken seriously. If they were going to get through this, then it would all have to be up to the Witch of the Emerald City.

The words suddenly became easier to understand. The green girl stopped at one page and paused to decipher the swirling text before going to another one upon finding no luck. Every once in a while she'd look up to check on Glinda. The blonde now had what seemed to be a dead look. Her mind had replayed the entire situation too many times in her head that it was evident that she was beginning to give up. Liira sighed, her gaze returning to the fragile pages. "I'm sorry," she said to break the silence and hopefully bring the blonde out of her trance.

The blonde looked up from her intense study of Elphaba's features, her dull blue eyes lighting up just a bit. She tilted her head to the side just slightly in her confusion. "About what?"

"For everything," Liira replied. She turned a page and skimmed through it, trying to find a way out for them faster. "I'm sorry your life is so ruined. But it can't be helped. Fate cannot be changed one way or another."

"I know," Glinda said quietly. She sniffed, then brought a hand up to dry the tears that threatened to fall. "I know these things were meant to happen. But… it still hurts. Everything I've come to love has in the end been taken away from me. I don't see what I've done to deserve this…."

Liira lifted her gaze to the blonde once again, frowning. "You don't deserve this kind of pain, Glinda. No one does," she said. She set the Grimmerie to the side—the spell could wait right now—and she moved closer to the older woman. She gently placed her hand over one of the blonde's to both comfort her and regain her attention. "What happened to you is not your fault, whether you believe it or not. Everything happens for a reason." She paused for a moment before adding, "You could be letting better things into your life by letting them go."

The blonde looked back down at Elphaba. She frowned, caressing a green cheek softly. "What could possibly be better than her?" she asked, her voice almost inaudible. She sniffed again, but she didn't do anything other than just sit there and stare at the Witch in her arms. "She meant everything to me. She could never be replaced…. I promised myself I'd never let her go…."

The green girl's mind struggled to come up with a way to console the blonde, but she knew that there was no use. Glinda had clearly reached her limit—her heart could never be healed again. She glanced back at the Grimmerie. Perhaps there was no use in even looking through the book trying to find another path. Even magic had its limitations….

Or maybe she wasn't looking hard enough.

She took the book back into her hands, and she turned back a few pages. Her eyes fell upon a spell that she had discarded just moments ago. It was a good one, but the effects were risky. What if it only made things worse? What if everything was screwed up even more than they were now?

But what if it worked and things were made better?

_It's all based on the choices you make…._

Liira looked back at the miserable blonde, and that single glance made her decision for her. It would have to be this one…. Her blue eyes went back to the text, where she then began to read aloud. It felt strange speaking in this tongue for a moment, but then she eventually got used to it, and so she chanted louder. It eventually caught Glinda's attention—she could feel her confused and worried gaze on her as she read.

After what seemed like an eternity, she closed the book, satisfied. She looked at the blonde and smiled. "We've got fifteen seconds," she said. "Then everything will be back to normal."

"Wait," the blonde said, her eyes widening. "What?"

The green girl saw the effects immediately. Behind Glinda, the soldier's actions seemed to rewind themselves, slowly at first before moving faster and faster. She caught the blonde's panicked expression, and she smiled to reassure her. "I'll see you soon," she said, though she wasn't sure if that would be the case.

"Liira, what are you—"

"Goodbye."

Everything went still before fading to black.


	26. Epilogue

The Witch of the Emerald City  
Kirra White Tigress

Epilogue:

The green girl let out a breath softly as her eyes flitted around the entrance hall of the manor. This was torture—pure torture! Approximately an hour previous, she had been told to wait patiently near her belongings. She was left with no books to read in the meantime—they were all packed and tucked away in the carriage by now—and, being of the anti-social nature, she had no desire whatsoever to speak to the blonde imbecile who sat perched on her own stack of valises like she was Ozma herself. _I hope she falls_, she thought as she cast a glare at the aforementioned girl.

She heard the blonde heave an almost exaggerated sigh, and she rolled her eyes. Seriously, this girl could get anyone to fall for her dramatic, pretty ways if they weren't already immune to them. The green girl could only hope that people weren't so dim-witted to do so….

"What do you suppose is taking so long?"

Jarred from her thoughts, the green girl looked at her companion curiously, an eyebrow raised in question. "Were you talking to me?" she asked.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "No, I was talking to the wall," she countered. Before the other girl could reply, she continued, her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I was talking to you. Isn't it obvious?"

"Well excuse me for not paying attention to your every word, Your Goodness," the green girl snapped back. She tore her eyes away from her and went back to looking around the entrance hall for a distraction to help bide her time. But her mind kept pulling her back to the question that had been asked: What was taking them so long? How difficult, exactly, was it to walk down a flight of stairs to where they were?

_Most likely they'd be tripping over each other…._

The green girl flinched at the sudden graphic image that appeared in her head. Knowing those girls and their relationship with each other did little to help things at all…. She closed her eyes, willing the image to vanish. _Dead Puppies_, she thought, repeating it like a mantra. _Dead Puppies, dead Puppies, dead Puppies, dead Puppies, dead—_

"Oh, Oz, you don't suppose they're having sex, do you?"

_Damn it!_ The green girl whipped her head around to set a glare at her blonde companion. "Oh, thank you _so _much for that _lovely_ image," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. She breathed out a sigh and closed her eyes, attempting to get her mind back under control. Honestly, you'd think someone so prim and proper would keep from saying such things….

The blonde shrugged. "It was just a thought," she said casually, as if the very idea didn't faze her. And in truth there was a good possibility that it didn't. One could never tell with her. "Even if they weren't, it seems logical to me that they'd be spending so much time together. Given the circumstances that they'll be separated for a long time, this may be what they need." She glanced over at the green girl. "Don't you agree?"

"Only for three months," the other corrected. "Then we'll be back for Winter Break and they'll be reunited."

"But then after a week they'll be separated again. They might as well make the most of the time they have left before the three of us are shipped off to Shiz."

The green girl opened her mouth to reply, but found that the blonde was right—again. These were two women who had spent a good majority of their lives together—it would be difficult on both parts to be kept away for too long, though one was stronger than the other. So, yes, a part of her believed they should stay together was a while longer.

But another part wanted them to hurry up; they were supposed to be leaving shortly.

The blonde suddenly stretched, emitting a rather loud, high-pitched yawn; the green girl rolled her eyes at her exaggeration. Once she settled, she closed her eyes, her head tilted toward the ceiling. Silence passed through them as smoothly as a breeze, yet an apparent tension began to grow due to the sudden stillness. Finally it was broken. "What do you think Shiz will be like?" the blonde asked.

The green girl frowned. "What do you mean? It'll be like every other school, I suppose."

"Yes, but…. Mommy-Dear and Madre said that Shiz was wonderful in more ways than one. For one it brought them together, and so many of their memories have been built on what happened there."

"What do _you_ think it'll be like, then?"

The blonde opened her eyes, her brow furrowed in thought. "I guess," she said at last, "that it'll seem somewhat other-worldly at first. I mean, there are so many people from so many different places—it'll be hard to get used to for a time. And then…."

Her companion nodded. "Then what?" she asked, prompting her to continue.

"Then… it'll be like every other school," the blonde replied, mimicking the green girl's own words. She smiled to herself before adding, "But that doesn't mean it'll be any less extraordinary."

"Well said."

Both girls jumped at the sound of the voice behind them. They quickly turned around; two pairs of eyes suddenly locked on the new-comer. A blonde woman in a simple yet elegant light blue dress stood halfway down the stairwell; a green woman similar to the one downstairs stood behind her. A moment of surprise separated them before realization and familiarity finally brought them back.

The older blonde smiled sweetly at them. "Are you girls ready?" she asked her daughters.

Liira frowned. "We've _been_ ready," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What took so long?"

Glinda suddenly blushed, her blue eyes flashing with an unknown emotion. Twirling a lock of her curly blonde hair with a finger, she replied, "We had a few things we needed to take care of…."

"I told you," Fabala whispered to her green sister, a blush of her own coloring her cheeks; Liira glared at her in turn. The blonde then hopped off of her stack of luggage and brushed down her off-white skirt. "When do we leave?" ash asked, addressing her two mothers as they made their way down the rest of the stairs.

"Very shortly," Elphaba answered. She glanced over at her partner, leveling a stare at her. "It would have been sooner if _someone_ hadn't lost not one but _both_ of her wands."

The blonde blushed again, but fired another glare at the Witch. "Oh, you're as much to blame for this as I am, if not more! You could have easily cast a spell to assist me, but no—you were standing in a _corner_, laughing your bloody _ass_ off—"

"Only because you looked so adorable attempting to look for them, my sweet," Elphaba said, kissing her lover on the cheek—this added to the blonde's darkening color. She glanced over at the two teenagers before them, looking as if the past dispute hadn't even occurred, though Glinda was still silently fuming. "Now, there are some things of great importance that we really must discuss before you leave here."

Fabala and Liira nodded to let them know they had their attention. It was very rare for their mothers to come up with something of utmost significance, and when they did, they knew to take it seriously. They knew it would be very unwise for them to let this slip their minds.

Glinda gently yet discreetly took her lover's hand; this didn't escape Liira's attention. "As you may know," she said, "Shiz is one of the best universities in Oz, if not _the _best. You will meet many interesting people and create many memories with the friends you make and the lessons you learn. _But—"_ The blonde's sapphire blue eyes seemingly sharpened into azure diamonds—"there are going to be horrible moments as well. Some people may not agree with you and… _things_ will happen—it depends on how far they're willing to go. And despite my being a teacher there this year, there are going to be times when I can't do anything to help you.

"Stay with each other. No matter whether you disagree with the other—you're stronger in many ways together than you are apart. You never know what may happen."

Liira frowned, yet nodded her understanding along with her sister. Something was going on here, she could tell. It was almost as if she were _expecting_ something bad to happen. And that look in Glinda's eyes when she looked at her…. The green girl shook these thoughts from her head. She shouldn't be worrying so much—she was most likely just imagining things. But she'd keep her words with her nonetheless.

_You can never be too careful…._

Elphaba looked out the window and sighed. "It's about time you three left already—the driver's starting to get impatient," she informed them. She stepped toward her daughters and hugged Fabala first. "Have a safe trip."

Fabala giggled. "I will, Madre. You take care."

The Witch then let go of the blonde and turned to Liira. She stared at her for a moment, as if assessing her, before also pulling her into an embrace. As always, it felt a bit strained, but the green girl was used to it, so she didn't say anything. "Have fun at Shiz," Elphaba said. Then, lowering her voice so only Liira could hear, she added, "Look after your sister. You know how sick she can get."

"I will," Liira replied, answering both wishes. She smiled to herself. "Mother is also on my list; you don't have to worry so much." The green girl felt Elphaba relax slightly before pulling away from her. She didn't need to have a reason to look after the older blonde; Glinda looked like she could pretty much take care of herself. But she knew how much Elphaba cared about her and even worried about her, so the promise made would help her. And Liira intended to keep that promise.

Elphaba watched as the two girls walked toward the door, pushing the luggage cart along with them. When she was sure they were gone—or at least out of earshot—she turned to her partner. She gave her a small smile. "I'm going to miss you," she said.

"Not again," Glinda said with a laugh, though her eyes shone with evident sadness. She placed herself in her partner's arms, forcing Elphaba to hold her though the Witch willingly complied. She breathed out a sigh and closed her eyes, reveling in the warmth and love emitting from the green woman. "I should have just forgotten about those damn wands. Now I feel like I've been wasting time," she said.

"You were," Elphaba replied. She laughed when the blonde slapped her arm in retaliation, and she held her closer. "But it was worth it. You needed to get ready for your new job, and so I let you."

"You shouldn't have. All I want to do is stay here with you," the blonde said with a smile. "You should have begged me not to go to begin with."

The Witch snorted. "I'm not a beggar. Never have, never will. Besides, you need this. It's better than being the ruler of Oz," she said.

"Or a traitor," the blonde whispered. She pressed closer to her lover, taking in another breath and letting it out slowly. After a moment, Glinda said, "I hope to never be in that situation ever again, Elphie. Once was enough; twice almost _killed_ me—"

"And in the end, I was brought back to you," Elphaba said quietly. "We were brought back to that single moment in time where we could have changed things."

"There were a lot of those."

Elphaba sighed. "The one that mattered the most, then. Like… when I sent you back to Shiz."

Glinda smiled up at the green woman. "Thank Lurline I dragged you back with me—your "imaginary" heart almost let me go again, and everything would have gone back to the way they were." She sighed softly when she felt her lover's hands gently glide up and down her back. Her blue eyes closed as the familiar feeling of content spread through her. "Do you think Liira remembers what happened?" she asked suddenly.

"If she does, then she hasn't mentioned it," the green woman replied, pressing a kiss on the crown of the blonde's head. "Personally, I think it's best that she doesn't know. She needs to live a normal life without that kinds of past with her."

"As normal as possible, you mean," the blonde corrected with a smile.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Yes, that," she agreed. Her dark gaze suddenly left the blonde's and looked toward the window. She frowned. "I think you'd better go now," the Witch said quietly. "I don't know how much longer the girls can hold out."

Glinda groaned, but didn't reply. A moment of silence passed between them as they both contemplated their next, final actions. Finally the blonde leaned forward and kissed her lover softly. "I guess I'll see you in a few months," she said sadly after she pulled away.

The green woman smiled, kissing her cheek in turn. "Write to me whenever you need to. Or use that Communication spell I found in the Grimmerie. But only use it if it's absolutely necessary," she informed.

The blonde nodded. She kissed her once again before slipping out of the safety of Elphaba's embrace. Her blue eyes glimmered with sadness, but she tried covering it with a smile. "I love you," she said. Then, without receiving an answer, she hurried out of the building.

Elphaba watched from her place near the window as her lover dashed toward the waiting carriage and slipped inside, where their daughters would most likely be fussing at her for keeping them waiting. She gave them a small wave before the vehicle began to move, carrying them away from her for what would feel like an eternity. The green woman sighed. She hoped everything would go alright for all three of them. But she knew that she didn't have to worry about a thing—they were strong enough to take care of themselves and each other.

-( )-

The Witch of the Emerald City remained unheard of for the rest of her existence. But in time, her story would be uncovered for all of Oz to know, and she would be the most revered Witch in history for her acts of braverism. Until then, it is best for it to be kept dormant with the other myths and legends; she would have wanted it that way.

_FIN_


End file.
